Grey Descent: The Goblet of Fire
by Belle P
Summary: Gia Grey, a vision-having, Lycan descendant inserts herself into life at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. She finds love and friendship with Harry Potter & his friends, but as her Lycan side continues to grow and starts to dominate her personality, will she ruin everything by succumbing to her own dark side, or will she be able to hold it back enough to help Harry survive?
1. The Dangers of Gia, Lessons, & Skrewts

_**A/N: Well, this is a new story that I've decided to start. Of course, I own nothing of Harry Potter or the Potterverse. Anything you recognize is the wonderful work of JK Rowling. **_

_**First, I'd like to warn you all by saying that some dialogue or small sections are taken directly from Goblet of Fire, like I said, I don't own these, but they help the story along, so just go with it.**_

_**Also, I want to say that I know the main character (an OC girl), seems a bit perfect or too convenient, but as the story progresses, it'll be revealed why she's the way she is or has the abilities that she has. Just bear with it until it's revealed.**_

_**Anyways, I hope you lot enjoy the story, and I have loads of chapters already written, so I'll probably post them quite often. So here it is:**_

**Chapter One**

The shriek of my alarm pierced the once peaceful silence of early morning and startled me out of my sleep. In a split second, I had my smooth, black wand in my hand and had rolled out of bed into a crouch, ready to blast apart whoever was stupid enough to try to attack. I waited for an attack, but as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, I realized what had happened and rolled my eyes in annoyance. Waving my wand, my alarm fell silent, once again plunging the room into silence.

Seeing as I was now wide awake, I reached high above my head and stretched, sighing as I felt several pops in my body. Looking around my room, I saw clothes and papers strewn all over the place. A quick wave of my wand, and everything flew back into its rightful place. I eyed my large, queen sized bed with such wonderful, soft, expensive bedding that allowed me to practically melt when I lied down. I longed to climb back into it, and skip the day, but it was the first of term and there was no reason to get on anyone's bad side… yet.

With several quick spells, my bed was made, my outfit for the day was laid out, and I could hear my shower starting in my huge bathroom. I saw that my black leather backpack was ready with everything I'd need for the day, luckily it was weightless and expandable, and so I headed into my bathroom. Every surface, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, even the sink and counters, were made of shiny, black marble, all lined in silver finishing and designs. My bath was three times as large as a normal one with a fully functioning shower, which was billowing out steam at that moment.

Stripping out of my black silk shorts and sports bra that I wore to bed, I stepped beneath the steaming hot spray and I immediately relaxed. The hot water stung but I got use to it quickly enough, and I began to wash thoroughly. Shampooing and conditioning my hair was always the most relaxing part of my showers, I loved lathering both into my scalp and rinsing. I loved taking showers period, I found them relaxing and I valued personal hygiene very highly.

About thirty minutes later I was standing in front of the mirror, brushing my teeth, toweling off, and used a spell to dry my hair. Standing in my fluffy, black towel, I admired myself in the mirror. My dark, fiery blood red hair hung to my mid-back in bright ringlets, my slightly pale skin seemed to glow, and my curves were enough to make anyone dizzy. My features were soft and beautiful, especially my deep, amber eyes, but they were cold and hard, like me. I was extremely beautiful, yes, but I knew perhaps better than anyone, that there was more to life than just beauty.

Walking back into my bedroom, my feet sank into a black carpet just beside my bed. It was a nice change from cold, marble floors, though I loved those as well. I slide into lacy, black boy shorts with a matching bra, and then black stockings. Next, I pulled on a deep, black pleated skirt that still managed to show off my perfect, smooth cream legs. Then, I slipped into a white blouse that showed off my curves, even after I buttoned it. Finally, I pulled on my black, dragon hide boots and red and gold tie, along with my black robe that hung open in the front.

Checking the time, I saw that it was 8:30am exactly; perfect timing, seeing as I had a half hour to eat breakfast. Slinging my backpack over one shoulder, I flicked my wand, causing every light in my rooms to go out before I stepped out into my common room and out from behind the portrait that guarded my hidden home in Hogwarts Castle, in the East Tower. It was a place so out of touch, it had been long forgotten for centuries but I had discovered it the night before during my night explorations after the Welcoming Feast. It had taken a bunch of house-elves to clean it out and renovate it for me, but they had gotten it done in time for me to get a few hours of sleep, which was all I needed. It was guarded by the hidden portrait of a beautiful faery girl by the name of Isavéla, and I called goodbye to her as I left.

Silently, I walked down to main corridors and then staircases along with hundreds of other students in all years. I was a fourth year, and had decided to enroll at Hogwarts instead of my usual self-teaching method. I had excelled and was quite ready to take my NEWTs with flying colors, but where was the fun in that?

The chatter in the corridors was loud, and though my ears were extremely sensitive, I found that it didn't hurt. Rather, it was comforting. I was so use to complete silence back home, that the constant buzz of conversation was very welcome. I caught the appraising glances I got from most of the males I passed, as well as from several females, and fixed a small smirk on my face. It was nice to be appreciated sometimes.

Resisting the urge to snort, I walked confidently into the Great Hall and sat gracefully at the full Gryffindor Table, where a seat had been left for me. I was slightly confused. After being sorted the night before, I hadn't actually talked to anyone at the table during the feast, preferring to collect my thoughts, and I figured they would've thought me a lost cause. It seems that was not the case.

"Good morning Gia!" Hermione Granger said with a warm smile as she buttered a biscuit. She had made an effort last night to talk to me, but had eventually caught the hint.

I smiled easily, "Geez Hermione, it's too early to be that happy." I joked lightly. All within hearing range chuckled and nodded in agreement, though Hermione knew I was joking, so she smiled excitedly.

"Oh, I'm just so excited about starting classes. We're bound to learn something interesting this year!" she gushed. I found her enthusiasm for learning to be endearing, even though I preferred to learn for practical use, rather than for knowledge's sake.

I chuckled softly and began to pile my plate high with food. I was only 4'11 and 115llbs, but I ate as much as a grown man, and never gained any weight. I had a wicked metabolism, something to do with my ancestry, descended from the original lycans, and all… I took a bite out of a sausage and fought to keep the pleasure off my face. I loved meat.

"What have we got Monday mornings?" I asked, after swallowing. I drank deeply from my huge mug of coffee as Hermione consulted her schedule.

"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs," she said with a grin. I snorted and we shared an amused look just as Hermione's two best friends stumbled down the table and plopped down beside us. Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.

"Morning Mione," both boys greeted with a familiar smile. They immediately turned to the food and dug in ravenously after piling their plates higher than mine. Hermione stared at them with bemusement.

"What's after Herbology with the Puffs?" I asked through a smile. As Hermione studied the schedule, Ron and Harry turned to me and took me in with blank looks before recognizing me. Both of their faces turned bright red, though Harry managed to force his down easier than Ron.

"Good morning," Harry greeted with a lopsided grin. "Err, Gia, right?" he asked. I nodded and shook his hand.

"And you are?" I asked seriously, keeping a smile at bay. His face blanked with shock, as did anyone who heard me ask their savoir for his name.

"You mean you don't _know_ his name?" Ron asked incredulously, a bit of bacon hanging from his mouth. I snorted.

"Of course I know his name, but I imagine he gets sick of never getting to introduce himself." I explain, "Geez, I was _trying_ to give the guy a break." I went back to eating as if most of the table wasn't silently staring at me until Harry broke it with hearty laughter. I could tell that it was an honest laugh, and seeing his emerald eyes so open did a strange thing to my chest.

When he stopped laughing, he gently squeezed my hand before letting go. "Thanks," Harry said honestly. "You're right. Most people look at me and either point, whisper, and stare; or they automatically _tell_ me that I'm Harry Potter." He grimaced, and Hermione shot him a compassionate look, while Ron looked guilty, as did most of the table. How interesting.

I waved away his thanks and turned back to Hermione. "So, what'll it be, Captain Granger of the Schedule?" I said, with mock-seriousness.

Hermione snorted. "After Herbology, we've got a break and then Care of Magical Creatures…" she grimaced. Harry and Ron look at her oddly.

"What's wrong with Care of Magical Creatures?" Harry asked. "We love having class with Hagrid."

Ron nodded. "Except the part where we're almost burned, frozen, bitten, scratched, clawed, maimed, or eaten by one his little _pets_." He added. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing, focusing on Hermione. I'd find out soon enough.

She sighed. "It's with the Slytherins." She said through clenched teeth. Ah, now I understand. Ron and Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing as they both groaned.

"Whose bright idea was it to put us with those slimy bastards within the same range of a dangerous creature?" Ron growled, stabbing his pancake as if it had personally offended him. Harry nodded darkly.

"That's like begging for an _accident_ to happen." He added.

"I thought you were all for house unity, Hermione?" Ron asked around a mouthful of his ravaged pancake. Hermione, Harry, and I looked a bit green at his horrid table manners, but I suppose they were more use to it than I was.

Hermione glared at her plate, and I'm surprised it didn't burst into flames. If I glared at something with that much heat, it was bound to happen. "I am, but if I have to sit through another lesson with that prat Malfoy calling me a mudblood, I swear I'll personally hex his ponce ass into oblivion!" she spat.

The entire Gryffindor table stared at her in shock, minus me, of course. Until, starting with Ron and Harry, they all applauded her. She blushed and ducked her head, but she had a pleased smile on her face.

"Finally Hermione, you've seen the light!" Ron gushed. He and Harry slapped fives across the table.

"Malfoy had better not mess with you this year, Mione, unless he wants to be punched in the face again." Harry snorted. This caused a round of loud laughter that caught the attention of practically the entire Hall. Some of the professors stared at us suspiciously, though I could've sworn I saw McGonagall and Dumbledore's lips twitch slightly. Ah, life as a Gryffindor would certainly not be as quiet as life on my own. Oh, joy.

"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned. Ron grunted, annoyed.

"Oh honestly, you should've dropped it like I did. Then you wouldn't have to worry about having your death predicted every class." Hermione lectured.

"Death predicted?" I asked.

Harry groaned, and he and Ron launched into a fully detailed account of Professor Trelawney's class. At the end, I was glad I hadn't signed up for that, even with my other gifts.

"Hermione's right." I said, ignoring said girl's smug grin, "Unless you have Seer blood, which I highly doubt, you won't get anything out of that class." I ignored the clench in my gut. My gift was very different from traditional Seers, and Divination was rubbish. It can't be taught.

"Either you have the gift or you don't. Since I'm assuming you don't, I suggest you drop the class. And I've heard that you were raised a Muggle, if that's true, what do you need Muggle Studies class for?" I asked, exasperatedly.

Harry scratched his head. "I don't know, Ron and I thought it would be easy A's." I raised an eyebrow at the two boys, both of whom squirmed under my gaze.

"Boys," I huffed. Hermione nodded in agreement, and we shared a chuckle. Turning back to Harry, "And look where that got you. I say you ask McGonagall about dropping both classes."

Hermione gasped. "But—but that'll leave him with only _one_ elective! He has to take at least two!" she exclaimed.

I shrugged. "Do like I did, and convince her to let it be a self-study period; it counts as a class period, and I can study whatever subject I want, as long as I'm actually studying. She checks that." I explained. This was met with many raised eyebrows.

Harry looked interested, though Ron stated he'd rather have the easy A's, which prompted him and Hermione to get into a bickering match. "What do you study, then?" Harry asked.

"I, personally, use the time to train myself." I said vaguely. Harry raised an eyebrow, silently asking for elaboration. "I've been trained since the age of five in most fighting styles, weapons, gymnastics, physical training, and of course, magic. I just use the free time to continue all of that. It's basically all of the stuff you would expect some weird ninja/assassin hybrid to know." I stated, grinning wryly.

Harry's eyebrows were high. "That sounds so cool. I suppose I could use all the training I can get, what with…" he trailed off.

"Voldemort?" I said in a low tone, so that only he could hear. His eyes widened dramatically, and he glanced at his still bickering friends before nodding.

"Yeah, I can't very well beat him with fourth year spells. I think I'll talk to McGonagall later." Harry said. We smiled at each other and finished up breakfast.

There was a sudden rustling noise above us, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. Instinctively, I looked up, but there was no sign of my black owl, Ario, among the mass of brown and gray. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed.

A large tawny owl soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a parcel into his lap. Neville seemed like the type that almost always forgot to pack something. On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like a supply of sweets and cakes from home.

Harry seemed to be looking for something in particular, perhaps his own owl, but when he didn't see it, he looked rather upset. I distracted him from whatever he had been waiting for, engaging him in a long debate about the usefulness of seekers versus chasers. Needless to say, the simple fact that I was interested in Quidditch, knowledgeable about it, and actually _played _it, definitely cheered both Harry and Ron up considerably.

Hermione had made a joke about once again being the only person in the group who wasn't obsessed with Quidditch, which made us all laugh though my heart clenched. She had implied that I was now one of them. We were all laughing and in good spirits, even throughout Herbology where Professor Sprout showed the class the ugliest plants we had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil.

Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid. "Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told us briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus—"

"The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted.

"Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus."

Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth which smelled strongly of petrol. We caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson, had collected several pints.

"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stopping the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus… Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."

"Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. "She tried to curse hers off."

"Silly girl," said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end."

A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and our classes separated; the Hufflepuffs headed up the stone steps for Transfiguration, while we Lions went in the opposite direction, down the sloping lawns towards the Groundskeeper's cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. As we drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached our ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He looked at me, standing with the trio instead of the other Gryffindors, and he looked slightly puzzled. I guess I was special.

Hermione caught the look and dragged me forward. "Oh Hagrid, this is our new friend Gia Aria Grey. She was sorted into Gryffindor last night. Gia, this is Hagrid, our professor." She said proudly.

Hagrid blushed and smiled down at me, and to my horror, I had taken an immediate liking to his kind, open face. I curtsied so gracefully, it left every single student, including the newly arriving Slytherins who were still quite a ways back, in stunned shock. I gave Hagrid a nearly nonexistent rare smile.

"Hello Professor Hagrid, it's a pleasure to be in your class." I said honestly. Oh Merlin, I was getting soft. Hagrid smiled and we shook hands… or more like he shook my whole arm up to my shoulder. I'm lucky I'm not entirely human or that would've hurt a lot more than it already did. But my smile did not falter.

"Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this-Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"Come again?" said Ron. Hagrid pointed down into the crates.

"Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward.

"Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts in my opinion. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes.

They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small _phut_, it would be propelled forward several inches. "Only jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

"And why would we want to raise them?" said a cold voice. The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling appreciatively at his words.

"How about you shut it Blondie, and let Hagrid actually teach us. You might learn that bit of information." I drawled, annoyed. There was just something about Malfoy's pinched face that seriously irked me.

There was stunned silence after I spoke, until there was a sudden snigger from Ron, and soon all of the Gryffindors had burst into side-splitting laughter; partially at the fact that I had addressed Malfoy as 'Blondie', and partially at his affronted, indignant expression at being called such a ridiculous name. As the Lions were laughing, and the Snakes were too busy glaring at them, Malfoy and I had a silent staring match. He glared at me, and I just smiled darkly before I winked at him. He blushed lightly and I snorted. We both knew I won that round, and so he shut it.

Hagrid, along with Ron clapped my shoulders, almost sending me to the ground, with thanks. "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today." Hagrid said, answering Malfoy's question. "Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things- I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer-I got ant eggs an' frog livers an'a bit o' grass snake-just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"First pus and now this," muttered Seamus. Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have made Harry, Ron, and Hermione pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. I had loads of respect for them, caring for a friend like that, but I couldn't help agreeing with Blondie. I couldn't suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was entirely pointless, because the skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.

"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me."

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious. "Its end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off, " said Hagrid, nodding.

"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males..."

The rest of class was spent rather eventfully, but thankfully none of us were seriously harmed. As the Slytherins and Gryffindors separated outside the Great Hall, I sent Malfoy another wink, causing him to blush angrily. I held in my laugh as the trio and I settled at our Table and helped ourselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Hermione began to eat so fast that Harry, Ron, and I stared at her.

"Err, is this the new stand on elf rights?" said Ron. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"

"No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library. "

"What?" said Ron in disbelief. "Hermione– it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"

Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she leapt to her feet, said, "See you at dinner!" and departed at high speed. I didn't bother to ask, and I shook my head when Harry looked about to launch into an explanation.

"I'll find out later, besides, the bell is about to ring." I said with a grin. Sure enough, a second later, the bell to signal the start of afternoon classes rang, and the boys looked at me in amazement.

"Are you sure you don't belong in Divination?" Ron asked, as the two gathered their things. I watched them retreat as they headed for the North Tower.

Finally alone, not that I minded the company, I could train again. I hurried up to the East Tower, and changed into small black shorts and a black sports bra, along with plain black trainers. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, grabbed my wand, and left, going to the other side of the seventh floor and pacing three times in front of the blank stretch of wall. A door appeared.

Opening the door, I stepped inside and closed it behind me, watching as it melded back into stone wall. The room I was in was huge and mimicked an outside racing track, I even felt a breeze on my skin. First, I did a bunch of stretches to warm up, and when I was ready, I took off around the track. At first, I started in a job and after a few laps kicked it up to a run. After a few more laps, I stepped into a full blown sprint, letting loose and going full speed, which was considerably faster than any human, and I hadn't even broke a sweat yet. My heart only went slightly faster than usual by the time I stopped, and I checked the time. I still had an hour and a half to go, seeing as it was a double period.

I went through a bunch of gymnastic stunts and such, flips, balances, etc, and then stepped into things like stealth, concealment, accuracy and aim. I practiced with throwing knives, bow and arrows, and swords of various sort, though I had no idea how the Room provided those. I also sparred fiercely with several practice dummies at once. Of course, I still won those.

I stopped twenty minutes before the bell would ring for dinner, and closed the Room, heading back to the East Tower. I, of course, checked many times on the way, making sure I wasn't being followed or anything, and took a nice, hot shower before changing back into my uniform. I hurried down to the library, and waited outside for Hermione. When the bell would ring in five minutes, I went inside to find her surrounded by a fort of books, all on house-elves and magical creature rights. Oh, sweet Merlin, help this girl.

Despite her protests, I sent all the books back to their rightful places with a spell, and dragged her from the library. We walked amicable silence, until we saw Harry and Ron on the staircase below us. "Harry! Ron! Oi, wait up!" I yelled, attracting loads of attention.

Ignoring them, I pulled Hermione down the steps to where the boys had stopped, and we walked together back to the Great Hall and dinner.

"Miserable old bat," said Ron bitterly. "That'll take all weekend that will..."

"Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly. "Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"

"Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily. I gently slapped Ron's arm, and high-fived Hermione behind his back as he looked to Harry for help. Harry raised his arms, and told Ron not to involve him. That caused Hermione and me to fall into giggles. We reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. We had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind us.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" Harry, Ron, Hermione and I turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something. This would be interesting.


	2. Ferrets and Unforgivables

_**I hope you all enjoyed Chapter One, and once again, I know that the main character seems a bit too perfect or well trained, and I thought it might help to point out that the story isn't really about her perfectness or her training, it's more about her relationships with the other characters and how it changes the story we're all familiar. **_

_**The story will follow canon, with the obvious major differences, but as time goes on, it'll of course, deviate more and more.**_

_**I hadn't wanted to bore you with an abnormally long A/N, but it seems I have… so here it is:**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_We reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. We had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind us._

_"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" Harry, Ron, Hermione and I turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something. This would be interesting._

**Chapter Two**

"What?" said Ron shortly. I grinned slightly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this:

**FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

_It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office"_

Malfoy looked up. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:

"_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene. _

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house—if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?" Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him. I was barely containing my own anger. I had no family, so it was very important to me. And to hear Malfoy so casually insult someone else's…

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron..."

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry— both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy— "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?" Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.

I snorted very loudly and sniggered, which caused a loud bout of laughter from every house except the Slytherins.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter!" Malfoy growled, after the laughter had calmed.

"Honestly Malfoy," I said loudly, gaining everyone's attention, I had a habit of doing that, "you can't insult someone's mother, and then get mad when they do the same to you. That's like cursing someone, and then yelling at them when they curse you back." Malfoy glared hotly at me.

"Oh, and keep your fat mouth shut!" Harry added venomously, as he turned away.

I saw Malfoy pull out his wand and mutter a curse. Several people screamed, but I stepped in the path of the spell and deflected it into a wall where it cut a sizable chunk into the stone. People were stunned, staring at us, including Malfoy, and Harry, who had spun around. Everyone seemed to take two large steps back at the look of utter rage on my face as I advanced on the prat.

"Malfoy," I spat, he flinched at the sheer hate in my voice, "when you're all talk, it's still very annoying, but it can be ignored." I said. I poked him in the chest with my wand, where it burned a hole in his robes. "But, when you try to curse one of _my_ friends when there back is turned, I get very, _very_, upset." My voice had gotten calmer, and somehow, this seemed to frighten Malfoy even more.

"Now, I am going to turn my back on you and walk to my friends, you can try to curse me if you want to, but I promise that you won't get the chance, Blondie." I spun around, slapping the stunned boy in the face with my hair, and walked calmly over to the trio. I heard Malfoy move behind me, and once again I blocked a spell aimed at my back. I knew I had purposefully baited Malfoy into trying to curse me, but now I had a legitimate reason for what I was about to do.

I turned around, ready to rip this kid's head off, when we all heard a loud BANG and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall. "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

We spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing. There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle, though my lip twitched. I knew exactly what had just happened.

Moody turned to look at Harry— at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, he gestured to me, "Gia blocked it; deflected is more accurate, actually." He pointed at the chunk of stone missing from the wall.

Moody looked from me, to the ferret, to the wall. "Good job, Grey. Twenty points to Gryffindor for not only protecting a friend, but also being ready in a hostile situation."

"Thanks," I said simply.

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave— what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you— him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head. Sweet. Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again— it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

"I completely agree," I added, causing several sniggers and odd looks.

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly. "Never—do—that—again—" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice. Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What—what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach—Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep, " said Moody. I somehow managed to stifle a snort, though someone in the back of the crowd didn't.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly.

"Too bad that," I murmured to the trio, "I quite liked Malfoy when he was a ferret." The three giggled softly and nodded in agreement.

"Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock—"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then, " said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words 'my father' was distinguish able.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy... You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son... You tell him that from me... Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend, " growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape... Come on, you..." And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons. Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to us as we sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy –"

"The Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" I yelled. The Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables all fell silent for a split second before roaring with laughter, and within seconds, Malfoy was dubbed as such. The trio was holding their sides as they laughed, and I felt a large grin tugging at my lips at their amusement. Poor Blondie, stuck with that nickname, no doubt forever… He deserved it.

Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of our plates. "He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good—" I kicked Hermione's leg underneath the table, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention. I subtly shook my head and she left it at that.

Ron grinned broadly. "You bet it was good! The little ferret deserved everything he got!"

Hermione made a slightly amused, slightly exasperated noise and began to eat at top speed again.

"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching her.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."

"But you told us Professor Vector—"

"It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. One of these days, that girl was going to choke on her food, shoving it down her throat like that.

No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred Weasley, I was one of the only people who could tell the difference between him and his twin, George.

"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"

"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred.

"Super cool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told us.

"What was it like?" I asked, voicing the question me and the guys were dying to know the answer to.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning. "Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.

"He knows, man," said Lee.

"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.

"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.

"Doing what?" said Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts?" I asked. All three boys nodded.

"He's seen it all," said George.

"Mazing," said Lee.

Ron dived into his bag for his schedule. "We haven't got him till Thursday!" he said in a disappointed voice.

The next two days passed interestingly enough for us all, though I could certainly live without another History of Magic lesson. Hermione had huffed, but the boys had practically worshipped me for setting up a Dicta Quill, before taking a nap during Binn's lesson. I think it was because she hadn't thought of it.

The point of interest in the past two days was actually Potions class. Harry had told me all about Snape, and especially about his very first Potions lesson back in their first year. I was more than prepared to handle Snape, regardless of Harry and Ron's warnings. But sure enough, as soon as we were seated, Snape had drilled me on questions that a NEWTs student couldn't answer, but I did smoothly and with tons of respect. The man might be a git, but he was brilliant.

At the end of my interrogation Snape, as well as the entire class, had been thoroughly and completely impressed. And throughout actually making the potion, Snape hovered especially over my shoulder, no doubt testing how I did under pressure, but of course, my potion came out absolutely perfect. Snape had given a sort of half-grimace, which seemed to pass as a smile for him, and declared me, "the only able-minded Gryffindor in the school". Coming from him that was like saying I would be the next Merlin.

To Neville's surprise, Snape's attention on me had directed it from him, and Harry had been able to help him clean up his ruined potion before Snape noticed. We had all high-fived out in the corridor, and I had talked Hermione out of her little bout of jealousy. Most of us were so excited about Moody's lesson on Thursday, myself included, that we had arrived early and queued outside his classroom in the corridor.

The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson. "Been in the—"

"Library." Harry finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats." We hurried into four chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, took out our copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, unusually quiet. But as the seconds ticked by, my nose and ears twitched. I didn't like the tension in the air, the kind that didn't come from students.

I bounced my leg restlessly, though we had barely been seated for two minutes. I felt uneasy and gripped my wand at my side, just in case. As exactly three minutes passed, a large figure covered from head to toe in black burst into the classroom and shot a serious of spells around at the class. So on edge and with my training, I instantly shot up from my seat, jumped over my desk, and sent out a bunch of quick shields that protected the shocked students. In a second, Harry was at my side, wand out, and we double teamed the attacker. He was good, and kept us on our toes. It was obvious that Harry and I both had amazing reserves of raw power, but I had more knowledge and experience than Harry, and so he was disarmed within a few minutes.

I, however, took pride in my training and fought closer and closer to the attacker, before ducking under a cutting curse and lunging at him, instincts taking over. He seemed surprised that I'd resorted to a physical attack, and so when I pounced on him, we both went down. He was much bigger than me, but with my surprise advantage, I had him on his back and my wand pushed into his neck. I wasn't breathing differently at all, but I could tell that none of the other students were breathing at all. They were all watching us with a mixture of fear, shock, amazement, and a bunch of other emotions.

"Forty points to Gryffindor for not sitting there and allowing yourself to be caught off guard and attacked, and also for protecting not only yourself, but your classmates…again." Came Moody's gruff voice. He lifted the concealment charm he must've been using and looked appraisingly up at me, as I was kneeled over his body. "However, I would appreciate it if you would let me up to teach my class."

I snorted. "You attack our class and expect me to just let you up?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow, as did most of the still silent class. I muttered a spell over him, and his body glowed blue. I huffed and stood up, offering him my hand. "You are Professor Moody, my apologies."

I pulled him up, and handed him back his wand, which had fallen when I jumped on him. "Nonsense," he barked as he brushed himself off, "another twenty points for CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

The class jumped, a few girls squeaked, and I winced as my ears rang slightly. I returned to my seat between Harry and Hermione, Ron was on Hermione's right. The three of them were staring at me with amazement and a new level of respect, as well as friendly smiles. I was the perfect addition to their little group, especially what with the adventures they get in. Great.

I caught the slight guilt in Harry's eyes and slapped his arm. "Ouch Gia! What was that for?" he yelped, rubbing his arm.

"Don't you dare feel guilty, Potter!" I growled. "You tried to help, and I probably would've lost without you. At least, you weren't frozen in your seat." I said. We had the whole class's attention, and I saw Hermione and Ron shift guiltily.

"Aye," Moody said, calling our attention back, "Miss Grey is absolutely right. Fifteen points to Potter for being prepared in a hostile situation." The class seemed to let out a unanimous breath, and we all relaxed slightly. Moody glanced at the class and saw our textbooks. "You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."

We returned the books to our bags, Ron looking excited. Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swiveled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves' present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures—you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind – very behind—on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark—"

"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out. I slapped the back of his head before Hermione could.

"Don't interrupt Ron, you could miss something important." I hissed.

Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled—the first time I bet any of us had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile. Ron looked deeply relieved.

"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago... Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore... One year, and then back to my quiet retirement." He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.

"So—straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face." I snorted softly, but Moody seemed to hear me anyway, though he continued.

"You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking." Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head. That was interesting… and disturbing.

"So... Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law. Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at me, however, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

Clearing my throat, the class paid rapid attention. Apparently, somewhat besting our DADA teacher made them want to listen to me. I could get use to some respect around here. "Those would be the three Unforgivable Curses, though I don't know why." I said with a roll of my eyes.

Moody raised a half-eyebrow. "And why do you say that, Miss Grey. Please," he gestured to the class, "enlighten us."

I took a deep breath. "Well, there are plenty of worst things than what the Unforgivables can do; things that would make Professor Dumbledore's grey hairs have grey hairs."

This caused a series of sniggers throughout the class, even Moody looked amused, though Hermione shot me a warning look. I shrugged carelessly at her. Moody nodded.

"Excellent point Miss Grey, five points to Gryffindor."

I raised an eyebrow. If I did my math right, and I know I did, I had single-handedly earned Gryffindor eighty-five points within four days. I was clearly on a roll. I grinned slightly and leaned back in my seat.

"Though Miss Grey is right about there being worst things than the Unforgivables," Moody began, "what exact are they?" Again, several hands were tentatively raised. This time, Moody picked on Ron.

"Err," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one... Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse." Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it.

I saw, in the corner of my eyes, Ron recoil slightly. I made a mental note to remember that Ron hated spiders. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that we could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance. Everyone was laughing—everyone except Moody… and me.

"What are you all laughing at?" I snapped. The laughter died instantly as they all looked at the anger on my face. "What if you had the Imperius Curse done on you? What if _you_ were under the control of somehow who hated you, made to do _anything_, and being useless to stop it?" I growled. "Would it be funny then?" No one answered, and all of their faces had paled at the implications of what could very possibly happen to them one day.

"Once again, Miss Grey is correct. I daresay I won't have to actually teach this class with her in it." He said, I snorted and relaxed once more.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."

Ron gave an involuntary shudder.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and I knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. I felt Harry stiffen beside me and reached over and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back and relaxed slightly, before letting go of my hand.

"Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped, except me, of course. Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?" Hermione's hand flew into the air again and so, to our slight surprise, did Neville's. The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject, I'd just met him the other day and even I saw that he was a true genius in that class.

Neville looked surprised at his own daring.

"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.

"There's one—the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice. I sighed softly. I knew about Neville's parents. Perhaps I should see if he was coping properly after class.

Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes. "Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again. Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. He knew too, though I doubt any of the other students did. That's not something I would broadcast to the school, lest I end up something like Harry. Poor boys…

Turning back to the class at large, Moody reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse, " said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!" The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretenses, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible. Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but I was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently.

The trio, along with the rest of the class, was frozen with horror, but I looked at Neville, and saw that his hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, and his eyes wide and horrified. "Professor," I called steely, Moody glanced up, "I think that's enough." I said, tilting my head ever so slightly at Neville.

Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch. "Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar. "Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse... That one was very popular once too. Right... Anyone know any others?" I looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, I guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. But I knew.

I was focused on Neville though. His face was incredibly pale, and there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. His eyes were still wide, and locked on the still twitching spider in its jar. I wished I could help him, but I couldn't in front of the class. It would have to wait. I felt Hermione shaking slightly, yet her hand still rose in the air.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered. Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.

"Ah, said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra... The Killing Curse." He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.

I suddenly reached out and grabbed Harry's hand tightly, giving support and also a silent warning. I felt his entire body freeze, but his eyes were still locked blankly on the scene at the front of the class. And though frozen, his hand gripped mine as tightly as possible, though it didn't hurt me.

Moody raised his wand, and I felt a sudden thrill of foreboding. "Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared. There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air—instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor. "Not nice, " he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

I sighed as Harry's face reddened as Moody's eyes (both of them) looked into his. I could feel everyone else looking around at him too. Harry stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all... I knew that look, had experienced it more than once, and simply squeezed Harry's hand, supporting him. What must've been going through his mind at that moment, seeing how his parents must've died before him… one of the reasons he was burdened by fame now. Oh Harry…


	3. From A Trio to A Quad

_Previous Chapter:_

_I sighed as Harry's face reddened as Moody's eyes (both of them) looked into his. I could feel everyone else looking around at him too. Harry stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all... I knew that look, had experienced it more than once, and simply squeezed Harry's hand, supporting him. What must've been going through his mind at that moment, seeing how his parents must've died before him… one of the reasons he was burdened by fame now. Oh Harry…_

**Chapter Three**

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it—you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." Moody lectured. "But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it. Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again, as usual, minus me.

"Now... Those three curses-Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus—are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills... Copy this down..."

We spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang—but when Moody had dismissed us and we had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices

"Did you see it twitch?"

"And when he killed it—just like that!"

They were talking about the lesson as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, but somehow I don't think some people, meaning Harry or Neville, had found it very entertaining—and nor, it seemed, had Hermione.

"Hurry up," she said tensely to Harry, Ron, and I.

"Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron.

"No," said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Neville."

Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. I stopped them from approaching him. "Don't," I said.

Hermione huffed. "He's obviously not ok Gia, we have to do _something_."

I gave her an even look. "And I will, but I know more about this than any of you, especially pertaining to Neville, so let me handle it." I said, though it came out a bit sharper than I meant, but they nodded.

"Go on ahead; I'll meet you guys up at dinner." I urged. Looking wary, they followed my directions, only patting Neville on the shoulder as they passed him.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to Neville and stood in front of him until his eyes focused back into the present. I said nothing. I simply pulled the poor boy into a tight, loving hug and felt him immediately sag in my arms. I could tell he was just barely holding back tears, and I rubbed circles in his back. What he was going through was absolutely terrible, and my heart truly ached for him.

I was about to open the conversation, but an odd clunking noise sounded behind us, and we turned to see Professor Moody limping toward us. When he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than we had yet heard.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on... We can have a cup of tea..." Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon me.

"You all right, are you, Grey?"

"Yes," I said, almost defiantly.

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed me. Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending... I know you understand that, Miss Grey, perhaps better than almost anyone in that class, besides Potter. Well... Come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you." Neville looked pleadingly at me, and I wanted to step in, but I knew it would do no good.

"Go on Neville," I whispered in his ear, seeing as I was still holding him, "we'll talk later on tonight, I promise, alright?" Neville nodded stiffly and we broke apart. I watched oddly detached as Neville was led away by Moody, wondering if I had done the right thing.

I sighed. Some lesson…

I headed quickly for the Great Hall, and arrived within a few minutes, once again sitting in the seat that had been saved for me beside Harry, across from Hermione. It seemed that Ron and Harry were talking about Divination class. "Harry, I thought you were going to drop it?" I asked, piling up my plate. After that lesson, I was more hungry than usual.

Hermione did not join in with our conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast and then left for the library again. "I will," Harry said, "but I've got loads of homework to do, so it can wait until the weekend." I shrugged.

Harry , Ron, and I walked back to Gryffindor Tower though I knew I wouldn't be sleeping there tonight either, and Harry, who I suspect had been thinking of nothing else all through dinner, now raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself.

"Wouldn't Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we'd seen the curses?" Harry asked as we approached the Fat Lady.

"Yeah, probably," said Ron. "But Dumbledore's always done things his way, hasn't he, and Moody's been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later—look at his dustbins. Balderdash." The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance hole, and we climbed into the Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.

"Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?" said Harry.

"I s'pose," Ron groaned. We went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts, not minding at all that I followed them up, to find Neville there alone, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at the end of Moody's lesson, though still not entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.

"You all right, Neville?" Harry asked him.

"Oh yes," said Neville, "I'm fine, thanks. Just reading this book Professor Moody lent me..." He held up the book: Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. "Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology," Neville said.

There was a faint note of pride in his voice that I suspect had rarely been there before. "He thought I'd like this."

Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, I thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. Harry and Ron took their copies of Unfogging the Future and prepared to go back down to the common room, but stopped when they realized I hadn't followed.

They looked back at me, confused. "Aren't you coming, Gia?" Harry asked.

I looked at Neville, who was watching us with confusion as well. I nodded. "I'll be down in a minute; I just want to talk to Neville about something." I said. Ron and Harry raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged and left, leaving me and Neville alone.

With no hesitation, I sat at the foot of Neville's bed and looked at him until he put him book down; folding down the page he was on. "How are you _really_ feeling, Neville?" I asked softly.

Neville flushed. "I'm fine."

I snorted and took one of Neville's hands, which caused him to flush harder. "Neville…I know about your parents." I said gently. He stiffened and shot me a sharp look, his face pale.

"H-how do you know?" He stammered.

"That's not important right now," I said vaguely, "what's important is how you feel. I can't say that I understand how it feels, no one can say that and really mean it, but I do to a certain degree. My parents," I trail off painfully. Taking a deep breath, I begin again.

"My parents are… gone. It happened a long time ago, but there's still a void there that can't be filled. Sometimes I feel numb, but sometimes all I feel is pain. I suppose Harry and I have it easier than you." I said. I traced lazy circles in the palm of Neville's hand, knowing he was simply watching me, listening.

"Our parents are completely gone; it still hurt, but it was something of a clean cut. But with you Neville, there's still a thread connecting you to that painful memory, living in a hospital." I heard him inhale sharply. "It's awful, and it is unfair, but it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Neville clenched his fist around my fingers before relaxing them. "But-"

"No Neville," I said evenly, "You're parents were put in their…condition for the same reasons that Harry's were killed, to protect the person they loved most in the world: You. They loved you Neville, and still do. Even if their minds can't process that, their hearts still feel it. They'll always love you Neville, no matter what condition they're in."

I looked up to see Neville's hazel eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Your parents are just as much heroes as the Potters, Harry included. Your parents are just as important and loved, and they'll be remembered by those who love them. You don't have to be alone in this. You have friends that care about you, including me, and especially Harry. You should be proud of your parents Nev; they are how they are because they stood up to that bastard Voldemort."

Neville's hand tightened at the name, but I'm happy to say he didn't flinch. "They stood up to him, his minions, and everything he stood for because it was the _right_ thing to do, not the easy thing. They knew what they were doing, and I'll bet my life that one of their motivators was you, because they wanted you to grow up in a Voldemort-free world. Don't throw that away because of what people like Malfoy might think. You're worth twelve of him, anyway." I was surprised to see a ghost of a smile cross Neville's face at those words.

I was even more surprised when Neville pulled me into a tight, hug. But it felt nice and warm, so l hugged him back for a minute until he let me go. I looked down while he wiped his eyes, and then stood up to go. I looked over my shoulder to see Neville holding an incredibly worn photo of two people who must be his parents.

"May I?" I asked, holding out my hands.

Neville looked very reluctant to part with that small piece of his parents, but gently handed it me. I waved my wand over it, and watched as it faded back to new, and then conjured a silver frame around it, complete with a glass cover. On the frame, the words: _Love is in the heart, not the mind_', were engraved into it. Handing it back to Neville, he examined it with glassy eyes and gave me a large smile.

"Don't forget about your friends Neville," I said as I stood at the door, "and I'm always here for you… even for the little things."

And with that, I exited the dorm and entered the common room. I looked around and saw that Ron and Harry had found a table, and set to work on their predictions for the coming month. While they worked, I simply curled up in a large, squishy armchair and meditated. An hour later, they had made very little progress, though their table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and I suspected that their brains had turned to mush at this point.

"I haven't got a clue what this lot's supposed to mean," Harry said, staring down at a long list of calculations.

"You know," said Ron, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration, "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."

"What—make it up?"

"Yeah," said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and starting to write.

"Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." He looked up at Harry. "You know her—just put in loads of misery, she'll lap it up."

"Right," said Harry, crumpling up his first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first years into the fire. "Okay... On Monday, I will be in danger of err—burns."

"Yeah, you will be," said Ron darkly, "we're seeing the skrewts again on Monday. Okay, Tuesday, I'll... Erm…"

"Lose a treasured possession," said Harry, who was flicking through Unfogging the Future for ideas.

"Good one," said Ron, copying it down. "Because of... erm... Mercury. Why don't you get stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend?"

"Yeah... Cool..." said Harry, scribbling it down, "because... Venus is in the twelfth house."

"And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight."

"Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I'll lose a bet."

"Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight..." They continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic) for another hour, while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed, and by the end of it, I had fallen to the floor, and was gasping, clutching my sides trying to breath.

The boys had stopped only long enough to watch me get my breath back and crawl back into my chair, before they returned to their predictions. I giggled. "Honestly Harry, this is ridiculous, as well as hilarious. If you talked to McGonagall, you wouldn't have to waste time doing this bullshit."

Harry glanced up at me and shrugged. "I told you, I'll go talk to her on the weekend." He said. I rolled my eyes and relaxed as Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, leapt into my lap, curled up, and began to purr deeply as I stroked his orange fur.

We saw Fred and George sitting together against the opposite wall, heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece of parchment. It was most unusual to see Fred and George hidden away in a corner and working silently; they usually liked to be in the thick of things and the noisy center of attention. There was something secretive about the way they were working on the piece of parchment.

I wondered whether it had anything to do with entering the Triwizard Tournament. As I watched, George shook his head at Fred, scratched out something with his quill, and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, "No—that sounds like we're accusing him. Got to be careful..."

Then George looked over and saw Harry watching him. Harry grinned and quickly returned to his predictions. Shortly after that, the twins rolled up their parchment, said good night, and went off to bed. Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in the other. Crookshanks arched his back, purring.

"Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"

"So have I!" said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill. Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions toward her.

"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks jumped from my lap to hers, and curled up in her lap.

"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned. I snorted and shifted so that my legs hung over the arm of the chair.

"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.

"Oh am I?" said Ron, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."

"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.

"Honestly Ron," I added, "where are you going to run into a herd of hippogriffs?"

"How dare you!" said Ron, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"It's just an expression," said Ron hastily.

Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation. "What's in the box?" he asked, pointing at it.

"Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed us the contents. Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colors, but all bearing the same letters: S. P. E. W.

"Spew?" I asked, picking up a badge and looking at it. "That doesn't sound very appealing…"

"Not spew," said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Never heard of it," said Ron.

"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."

"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well—if you three join—four," said Hermione.

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron. I giggled.

"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status—but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto." She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

"Hermione—open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"

I spoke up. "Actually, both of you are wrong." The trio all stared at me, though Hermione and Ron's were more of indignation, and Harry's was one of bemusement.

"What?" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione, you can't just go around freeing elves, and Ron, they only like being enslaved because that's what they've been taught to like." I explain evenly.

"Well, they've been brainwashed! Of course they should be freed!" Hermione insisted hotly.

"Hermione," I start calmly, "you're Muggleborn, right?"

"Yes," she replied defensively.

"What do your parents do?"

She stuck her chin out slightly. "They're dentists."

"So you've been taught your entire life to brush thoroughly, floss, watch how much candy you eat, right?"

Hermione simply nodded.

"Well it's sort of the same thing with house-elves. They've been taught to serve and follow the order of their master their entire life. Now, what if one day, someone told you that brushing your teeth was wrong, and that you should stop?" I ask.

Hermione snorted. "I would tell them they were absolutely barmy, and I wouldn't listen…" and then her eyes widened. I nodded.

"Exactly, so how do you think the elves would feel if suddenly, you were telling them that they had to stop serving because it was wrong?" I prompt.

Hermione slumped in her seat. It didn't need an answer. "But I did all of this work for nothing!" she moaned.

"Not for nothing Hermione," I said gently, "you can't just up and free house-elves, but perhaps you could work to get them better treatment. Have you seen the way people like Malfoy treat their house-elves? It's barbaric." I said.

There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at me. "Oh Gia, you are absolutely brilliant!" she gushed. I smirked smugly and buffed my fingernails on my shirt mockingly.

"I know."

The silence was broken, not by Ron, who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. Harry looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig!" he shouted, and he launched himself out of his chair and across the room to pull open the window. Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Harry's predictions.

"About time!" said Harry, hurrying after her.

"She's got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg. Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

"Who's it from, then?" I asked suddenly.

All three of their heads snapped up, and I could see the guilt on all of their faces. They had forgotten about me, and they probably weren't supposed to be talking to whoever the letter was from. They stared at each, having a sort of conversation with head nods, head shakes, blinks, grunts, eyebrow movements and sighs. It was all actually very interesting to watch. In the end, they seemed to decide on something.

"You might want to sit down for this," Harry said, as they turned back to me. I snorted.

"That was very dramatic, and I'm already seated." I pointed out. Harry's face reddened.

Harry took a deep breath, and suddenly all three of them were taking turns telling me a story so astounding, amazing, ridiculous, and fantastic that when they were through, I was blown away completely. I stared into space, piecing it all together in my mind, until I was brought back by a sharp pinch in my leg from Ron. I glared at him and he looked abashed.

"So," I said slowly, "I'm guessing no one knows the full, complete version of any of your adventures here that you just told me? Not even Dumbledore?"

All three nodded.

"And we'd really like to keep it that way." Harry said seriously.

"So why'd you tell me? You hardly know me." I stated.

Hermione huffed. "Because we trust you, and you're one of us now." She said, as if it should be obvious. Ron grinned.

"And unfortunately for you mate, that means you're getting dragged into all of our adventures from now on, life threatening or not." He said.

I groaned dramatically, but I couldn't stop the grin tugging at my lips. "Fine, I'm in. So, I can assume this is a letter from," I lowered my voice, "Sirius?" Harry nodded. "Well, then let's read it."

The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. Harry read it aloud:

_Harry—_

_I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore—they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry._

—_Sirius_

Harry looked up at us, we stared back at him.

"He's flying north?" Hermionewhispered. "He's coming back?"

"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron, looking perplexed. "Harry—what's up?"

For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap. "I shouldn't have told him!" Harry said furiously.

"What are you on about?" said Ron in surprise.

"It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "You'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."

Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.

"Harry," Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.

"I'm going to bed," said Harry shortly. "See you in the morning." He got up to storm to the dorm, but I waved my wand and he was forced back to the floor where he had been sitting. He glared at me, and I met it with a calmly face.

"Oh, no you don't Potter, we are going to settle this right now." I said sternly. I held up one finger. "One, how would Sirius feel if he knew you were keeping secrets from him, especially ones about your safety?" I asked.

Harry glared at the floor, until I sent a mild stinging hex at his knee. He yelped and looked up at me. "Answer," I demanded.

"Fine," Harry spat, "he would be mad and—and" he faltered. "He would be hurt, thinking I didn't trust him."

I held up two fingers. "Two, it sounds like he was already planning on coming back because of these 'rumors' he's been hearing, as well as Dumbledore reading whatever signs. How is that your fault?"

Harry didn't answer until I raised my wand threateningly. "It's not." He ground out.

"Three, if your scar is hurting and you're having odd dreams, _obviously_," I drawled in a manner similar to Snape, "something _is_ in fact, wrong with you. So even if Sirius was coming back _just_ for you, it wouldn't be for nothing."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, wide eyed, over Harry's head, though I could see they were silently cheering me on. Harry must storm off a lot and bottle up his feelings a lot. There will be no more of that. "And finally," I flicked Harry forehead, causing him to stare at me in shock, "Don't you dare take your temper out on yourself, the furniture, or poor Hedwig. Tomorrow, you had better go to the Owlery and apologize to that beautiful owl or _else_. She made that long journey for you, so you had better appreciate her. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Harry said, but I could see that he already felt lighter. "Thank you," he said softly. I ruffled his already messy hair, and we all shared a smile.

"Thank Merlin we've got you now, Gia." Hermione muttered, earning two indignant looks from Harry and Ron.

I stood up and clapped, "Well, I think we could all use a decent night of sleep." The trio agreed and we said goodnight. The boys went up to their dorm, and Hermione started toward ours before realizing that I hadn't followed her.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked.

"I don't sleep in this Tower," I said vaguely. "I'll show you some other time, alright?"

Hermione looked at me suspiciously, but sighed and shrugged. She called goodnight and disappeared into the fourth year dorm. I eased out of the common room without waking the Fat Lady and easily made it to the East Tower without being caught. Pretty soon, I was in my pajamas and crawling into my bed, sinking deeply into the mattress. It had been an interesting week so far, and it wasn't even over yet. If this was life with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I couldn't wait for the real fun to begin. Ah, well.

Another day at Hogwarts complete…


	4. Tension & Tournaments

_Previous Chapter:_

_Hermione looked at me suspiciously, but sighed and shrugged. She called goodnight and disappeared into the fourth year dorm. I eased out of the common room without waking the Fat Lady and easily made it to the East Tower without being caught. Pretty soon, I was in my pajamas and crawling into my bed, sinking deeply into the mattress. It had been an interesting week so far, and it wasn't even over yet. If this was life with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I couldn't wait for the real fun to begin. Ah, well._

_Another day at Hogwarts complete…_

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, I awoke gradually, having gotten use to that blasted alarm. I went through my usual morning ritual, perhaps a bit quicker than usual. I realized that I was eager to go meet up with my friends. It was the first time I'd ever had real friends, and they'd actually trusted me with their secrets. Well, I would keep them with my life. But I really ought to show them the East Tower, it's only fair. Perhaps, we could study up here…

Slinging my bag over one shoulder, I left the East Tower and hurried down to the main corridors as usual, not finding the trio until I entered the Great Hall. As usual, I sat in the seat saved for me, beside Harry, across from Hermione. Neville sat on my right, and as I sat down, I ruffled his smooth brown hair affectionately. He smiled softly at me and went back to reading the book from the night before.

As I fixed my plate, I looked at Harry sternly. "Did you go apologize to Hedwig, Potter?" I asked.

Harry raised his hands in surrender, ignoring Ron and Hermione's sniggers. "First thing this morning, Miss Grey." He said. I stared at him until he squirmed and then smiled brightly.

"Excellent. Good morning, guys." I said, taking a bite out of a strawberry Danish.

"Morning," was the unison reply I got from practically everyone within hearing range at our table. I grinned and continued eating.

As we enjoyed breakfast, we chatted about almost anything that came to mind, especially the fact that our lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding, particularly Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts. Of course, I did perfectly in everything without much effort, a fact that annoyed Hermione to no end, but they were still interesting.

To our surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether we could resist its effects.

"But—but you said its illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said—to use it against another human was—"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way—when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely—fine by me, you're excused. Off you go." He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door.

Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. The boys and I grinned at each other. We knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson. Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. We watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, 'Imperio!"

We had all watched closely as Harry's face became free of all worries, and he looked incredibly peaceful. But we knew it was the spell. He bent his knees, and hesitated. He did a sort of half-jump and smashed headlong into the desk, knocking it over. Then his eyes returned to normal.

"Look at that, you lot... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention—watch his eyes, that's where you see it—very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

"Grey, front and center." I had been called up next. I stood at the front of the class, simply watching my friends. They seemed eager to see if I could throw off the spell. They seemed to think I could do anything after that fight with Moody the first day.

"Imperio," Moody muttered.

I felt a sudden peace come over me, and then it disappeared, and I felt normal. I raised an eyebrow at Moody. "Why'd you lift it?" I asked.

The class gasped. Moody grunted.

"I didn't lift it, Grey. In fact, I'm still holding it on you." He said.

"Oh," I said simply, "I don't feel it."

Needless to say, I got a standing ovation and another twenty points for Gryffindor. Harry had gotten that as well.

"The way he talks," Harry muttered as we hobbled out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class an hour later (Moody had insisted on putting Harry through his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw off the curse entirely), "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second."

"Yeah, I know," said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step. He had had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry, though Moody assured him the effects would wear off by lunchtime. "Talk about paranoid..." Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"

"Moody's right though, we could be attacked at any moment. You guys should know that better than anyone." I said softly. Harry and Ron exchanged looks.

"I guess you're right…" Harry said.

"Or you're just saying that because you're Moody's favorite." Ron teased. Very maturely, I stuck my tongue out at Ron.

But he also had a point earlier; we did have a lot going on. All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work we were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer—"

"We don't take O. W. L. S till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.

"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion, and Miss Grey, the only one to transfigure a perfect pincushion, complete with a design. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"

Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself, but I brushed off the praise, highly use to it seeing as I was top of all of my classes. Hermione seemed resigned to the fact that I had bumped her from that title, but she strove to keep up with me anyway.

Harry and Ron had been deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class. She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them—but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; both of them were running out of ideas for catastrophes.

It was at that point that Harry had finally talked to McGonagall and dropped the class. Since then, I had been harshly training him during every free and self-study period. He was in better shape than most, and he was slowly but steadily getting better at everything I taught him. He was natural fight, and excelled in spell casting. We even noticed that his graders were improving as well. This pleased Hermione no end, but Ron still refused to join, saying he'd stick to an easy A.

Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had us writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Thanks to my Dicta Quill idea, Harry, Ron, and I got an extra hour or two of sleep, and we also had great notes to study from and complete our essays. Hermione found it immoral, which greatly amused me. But to each her own, and Hermione still remained the only person besides a few Ravenclaws to actually attempt to listen and stay awake in that class.

Professor Snape was forcing us to research antidotes. We took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of us before Christmas to see if our antidote worked. Seeing as I had remained his top student, even over all of his precious Slytherins, including Malfoy, Snape had me actually brewing antidotes instead of just researching them. Every time, they came out perfect. And the longer time went on, the more attention Snape paid to me, the less he paid to the rest of the class, and the more they learned without him breathing down their necks. Funny, huh?

Professor Flitwick had asked us to read three extra books in preparation for our lesson on Summoning Charms. Not really interested in the extra work, I had demonstrated that I could do a perfect Summoning Charm already and was excused from the assignment, besides a short essay that I completely within thirty minutes.

Even Hagrid was adding to our workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior. The trio and I used this as an opportunity to simply relax with Hagrid in his hut, and it made for many peaceful nights.

Not everyone had this same outlook.

"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."

Hagrid's smile faded off his face. "Yeh'll do wha' yer told," He growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book... I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."

The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him from retorting. That, however, didn't stop Harry, Ron, and I from recruiting the twins and Peeves to specially prank Malfoy.

Over the weeks at Hogwarts, I had helped the twins and Peeves with many a prank, and had earned all of their respect, leaving me immune to their pranks. We all had a sort of alliance that Harry and Ron found brilliant, while Hermione found it would lead me into trouble. I had mockingly told her that I'd never get caught. That was very true.

We had returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year. I hadn't been there last year, but I was rather fond of Hagrid, and knowing what Malfoy had tried to do made me hate the ferret even more. In fact, I had charmed all of the suits of armor in the corridors to sing, "Oh, The Amazing Bouncing Ferret" every time he walked by. This caused much amusement to the rest of us.

When we arrived in the entrance hall, we found ourselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them. Putting two fingers to my lips, I let out a loud, sharp whistle. All sound stopped and a path was immediately cleared for me.

Clearly impressed, the trio followed me to the sign, where I read it to all around:

_**TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT**_

_THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCKON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY—_

"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

_STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKSTO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONTOF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST._

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows. Think I'll go and tell him..."

"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Harry. "He must be entering the tournament."

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron as we pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.

"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione. "I've heard he's a really good student—and he's a Prefect." She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.

I flicked Ron's nose. "Actually, I've actually met and talked to Cedric. He's really nice, and smart. The fact that he's handsome is just icing on the cake." I said.

Hermione grinned smugly and we high-fived, leaving the boys looking at us with indignant jealousy.

"And excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.

Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where we went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang differed from themselves.

We noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.

Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too. "Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult lesson.

"That wasn't very nice or called for, Professor." I said, unable to help standing up for Neville, who had become a brother of sorts.

McGonagall's nostrils had flared dangerously. "Then perhaps you could teach him how to do it Miss Grey, since I obviously can't!" she had replied harshly.

I resisted the urge to glare at her and turned to Neville, aware that the class was watching. I took his embarrassed, shamed face in my hands and made him meet my eyes.

"Neville," I murmured so low that only he could hear me, "Don't listen to McGonagall or anyone else in here. You can do this, I _know_ you can it. You just need to believe in yourself. I believe in you, and that's a start. Now focus, but don't force it. Let it flow from your mind, to your wand. Try again."

Letting go off Neville, he had adopted a serious expression and took a deep breath. Saying the spell clearly, the class burst into applause as Neville did the spell correctly. McGonagall, thin-lipped, had given us both ten points. I resisted rubbing it in her face.

When we went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, we found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I sat down beside Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.

"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred.

"But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.

"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.

"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.

"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before..."

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage." She noticed us all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title."

I smiled. "Absolutely right, that book has been edited so much, it's ridiculous." This caused a round of dramatic gasps at the table.

"You _read_ that book Hermione's always going on about?" Ron asked, clutching his heart. Fred and George had already pretended to faint, and Harry had a hand on his forehead, swooning.

I laughed at their antics. "Of course, though you can't believe everything they put in a book."

During breakfast, Harry had gotten a simple, update note from Sirius, telling him that everything was fine on his end and he was still coming back. Other than that, it was a normal morning. There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter.

When the bell rang early, the trio and I hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited our bags and books as we had been instructed. I left my things with theirs, knowing I could always come back to get it later. We pulled on our cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall. The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron.

I immediately began to fuss over the boys, making them both blush, but earning an approving glance from McGonagall. I straightened Ron's hat, fixed his robes, and cleaned his face once more as he had a little smudge on his cheek. Next, I pounced on Harry's hair which seemed to have a mind of its own.

"It's a lost cause, Gia." Harry whined playfully.

I huffed, and instead of trying to make it neater, I simply messed it up in a way that looked intentional. It made a huge difference, and Harry was getting more than one look from other girls that I found I didn't like.

"Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair." Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. "Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front... No pushing...

We filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry and I, standing beside Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," Hermione and I said simultaneously.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

"I don't think so... Not from that far away... do you know how sore your ass would be after that ride?" I said. Harry and Ron both winced and shivered at the thought.

"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate—maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently.

We scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. I was starting to feel cold. We all wished they'd hurry up.

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers— "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbaton approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Something large, much larger than a broomstick—or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks—was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid... It's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey. Dennis's guess was closer... As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, we saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward us, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed—then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground.

A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes. I just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then we saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage—a shoe the size of a child's sled-followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman I had ever seen in my life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained.

A few people gasped. I had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in my life, and that was Hagrid; I doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow—maybe simply because I was used to Hagrid—this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck.

She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers. Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. I had my attention split from the conversation between the two Heads and the students from the other school. Everyone else, however, just noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

From what I could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses—"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other—err—charges."

"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, Hermione, and me, grinning.

"My steeds require—err—forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong..."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.

"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Harry.

"That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"

"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully.

"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds..."

We stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. I huffed irritably. "Alright, this is quite enough." I growled. Most of the students stared, though most of them were use to my odd and usually impressive ways. Tapping the trio, Neville, and myself on the head, I muttered a series of warming charms. The effect was immediate and we were able to relax, not freezing to death.

The older students looked abashed at not thinking of it first and began to apply the charm to themselves and the younger students. I quickly helped out the first and second years that couldn't do the charms themselves, and soon we were all warmed up, under the appraising eyes of our Professors.

Most people were still gazing hopefully up at the sky. For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then—

"Can you hear something?" said Ron.

Barely having to strain my ears, I heard a distinct bubbling and sloshing sound. "The lake," I announced. Everyone looked over at the Black Lake. From our position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, we had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water—except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks—and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool... And then we saw the rigging...

"It's a mast!" Harry said to us.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, we heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; we could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, I noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle... But then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, we saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was stall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and I immediately noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. I already didn't trust him, at all.

"How good it is to be here, how good... Viktor, come along, into the warmth... You don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..." Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students.

As the boy passed, I caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. I didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave Harry or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.

"Harry—it's Krum!"


	5. The Goblet of Fire

_Previous Chapter:_

_As the boy passed, I caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. I didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave Harry or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile. _

_"Harry—it's Krum!"_

**Chapter Five**

"I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!"

"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.

"Only a Quidditch player?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears.

I flicked his nose again. "Honestly Ron, you sound like Ginny when Harry comes around." I said. This caused Hermione to snort, and both Harry and Ron to redden and glare at me. "But Hermione, you really don't understand his importance," I continued. "He's like the best and youngest seeker in the professional league!" I said, with a large smile.

"You knew he was still in school?" Ron asked, incredulous.

I nodded. "Of course I knew. Geez Ron, he's only seventeen." I said, as if it should be obvious.

"And how would you know that?" Harry asked accusingly.

"I do my research."

As we re-crossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, we saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked—

"Oh I don't believe it; I haven't got a single quill on me—"

"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

"Really," Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.

"I'm getting his autograph if I can," said Ron. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Harry?"

"Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Harry.

We walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. I huffed and stood back up. The trio looked up at me.

"What are doing?" Hermione asked.

"What everyone else is too scared to do, you know me, Hermione." I said with a grin. I walked over to the unsure Durmstrang guys, attracting each and every one of their eyes. I stopped in front of Krum and execute a curtsy so graceful and flowing, it stunned the entire Hall, including the students from the other schools, into silence.

Coming back up, I smiled at a dazed Viktor Krum. "Hello, I'm Gia Aria Grey. It's nice to meet you, lot." I said, making sure to include all of them, though I shook Krum's hand. He bent down slightly, and kissed the back of mine though. I heard several growls, but ignored this, and refused to blush as well.

"It is a pleasure to meet von of Hog'warts most beautiful students," Krum said in halting English. I smiled prettily at him, giving him that dazed looked again.

"Thank you, Krum."

"Please, call me Viktor." He said. I grinned and nodded, aware of the amount of eyes watching.

"Well, seeing as everyone else is too scared to do it," I said, "I'd like to be the first to say that I'm a huge fan of yours."

"You like Quidditch?" Viktor asked.

"I live for it, watch it, play it…" I said.

He grinned at me. "You don't act like a normal fan girl," he commented. I grimaced, and looked at the sixth year girls who had been asking about lipstick.

"Like them?" I said, tilting my head in their direction. Viktor nodded, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry; I'm a fan, but not a fan girl. Big difference."

"I see." Viktor said, still smiling.

"Well, I'd also like to be the first to ask for an autograph?" I asked, "You know, something to keep me warm through these cold, lonely winter days." I said, very dramatically.

Viktor let out a short laugh but agreed. Happily, I absently conjured parchment and a quill, and watched as Viktor expertly signed it. Handing it back to me, he bowed to me before I walked confidently back to the Gryffindor Table where my friends sat, stunned into silence. As I took my usual seat beside Harry, I glanced up to see Viktor give me a quick smile before he and the other Durmstrang students went and settled at the Slytherin Table. The students from Beauxbaton had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

"It's not that cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"

The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed. As they did this, I carefully tucked Viktor's autograph into my robe, aware of the envy radiating from many directions. I caught the sixth year girls glaring at me.

"If you two airheads hadn't been acting so _stupid_ then maybe you could've plucked up some _courage_ to go ask him for a bloody autograph!" I snapped. The two looked affronted and turned away angrily.

"Oh, what was it like?" Ron asked eagerly.

I raised an eyebrow. "What was what like?"

"Talking to Krum," he prompted.

I shrugged. "It was like talking to you, or Harry. Pretty normal, actually." I got a mixture of awed and disbelieving looks at that statement.

Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. I wasn't exactly surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's.

"But there are only two extra people," Harry said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"

"Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum. I flicked his nose, and he finally looked away.

"I suppose it could be other judges," I suggested, "or perhaps Ministry officials." Hermione nodded in agreement.

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbaton leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbaton party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and—most particularly—guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbaton girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.

I stared at her. "Geez Hermione, why are you so hostile against the Beauxbaton girls?" She ignored me, and I let it go.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down, and I saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation. The plates in front of us filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of us than most of us had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign. Though, because I had traveled greatly, I recognized most of them.

"What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," I said, as Hermione opened her mouth.

"Bless you," said Ron.

I flicked Ron's nose in bemusement. "No you prat, it's French. It's actually very good." I said.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked, a bit miffed she didn't get to answer the question.

"I've traveled all over the world; I guess you should probably know that I'm fluent in a bunch of languages, including French and Bulgarian and Russian." I said.

Hermione stared. "So you'll be…"

"Able to communicate with the other students, yes..." I said.

"I'll take your word for it," said Ron, steering the topic back to food, and helping himself to black pudding. The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.

Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I with a very heavily bandaged hand.

"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called.

"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.

"Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbaton who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth. I immediately sensed that she was part veela.

Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

"Vous pouvez le prendre." I said, if only to distract from Ron's idiocy, pushing the dish toward the girl.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Vous parlez couramment le français?"

I nodded. "Oui," was all I said.

She grinned. "Vous disposez d'un accent très bonne, très authentique." She complimented.

I shrugged. "Merci. Mes excuses, mais votre aura affecte mon ami. Il est un peu épaisse." The girl laughed.

"I like you," she said, with her tinkling voice. "And I apologize for your friend." She held out a hand to me, "Mon nom est Fleur, et que vous êtes?"

"Gia," I answer, shaking her hand, "Gia Aria Grey."

"Au revoir," Fleur said, she picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at her as though he had never seen one before. Harry started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.

"She's a veela!" he said hoarsely to Harry.

"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!" But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

"They make them just fine at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking. He glanced at me, and I smiled, which made him blush.

"Ron, you are an absolute cad for staring at that poor girl like that, she can't help it." I said, slapping the back of Ron's head. "She's actually only a quarter veela, and her name is Fleur."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked eagerly.

I looked at him and wondered how he had gotten so thick. "If you weren't so busy ogling her, you might've heard the conversation we had."

Harry shook his head. "I heard it, I just didn't understand it."

"I understood bits of it," Hermione piped up, "though I'm not the best at French."

I shrugged. "She complimented my accent, and I told her that her aura was affecting Ron. Nothing important," I said.

We looked up at the Head Table in time to see our newest guests. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.

"What are they doing here?" said Harry in surprise.

"They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived we noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, and then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it. Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now.

I felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket—"

"The what?" Harry muttered. Ron shrugged.

Harry and I glanced at each other, and our eyes met for a long second, and my deep amber eyes clouded over as Harry's face disappeared and quick flash of a scene crossed my vision. Damn, not now.

_It was Harry. Standing in the Great Hall, shocked. The Hall was filled with people I immediately noticed were the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang delegates, all of whom were also stunned into silence. This is either tonight or the night the champions will be announced, I figured._

_I watched as Hermione shoved Harry out of his seat and he stumbled numbly up to the Head Table, where Dumbledore held a slightly charred scrap of parchment with Harry's name on it. He had been announced fourth champion. Ah, it's not tonight. How comforting..._

I blinked and I was back in the present, looking into Harry's worried face. "Are you ok? You completely zoned out and now you're all pale." He said, concerned.

Ignoring his question, I took several deep breaths and tried to calm my racing heart. That wasn't the past, I knew. But I so rarely got glimpses of the future, why now? And how did Harry get chosen as a fourth champion? He wasn't old enough to enter, and he sure as hell didn't look like he'd done it on purpose. Besides, he would've told me if he had. My head was pounding with the sheer amount of confusion and questions, so I pushed them away. It would all happen soon enough anyway, I knew and dreaded.

I looked at Harry, who really looked worried, and attempted to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. "Harry—"

My words trailed off as Dumbledore began to speak again, "Just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation"—there was a smattering of polite applause— "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush mustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining me, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts." At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed our sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch." Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from us watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... Their magical prowess—their daring—their powers of deduction—and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing. "As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools."

My brain kicked into overdrive. I only had tonight and tomorrow to think about what I was going to do. I couldn't let Harry get chosen for that bloody tournament, he could get killed. But how did his name even get entered?

"The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as we all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing—it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough..."

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

I looked and saw Harry briefly consider, my heart hammered in my chest, but on the outside, I merely looked somewhat interested in the conversation.

"Didn't you hear the warning," Harry said suddenly, "people have died in this tournament." He snorted. "I've had enough near-death experiences in my life without willingly signing up for one. So, no thanks."

I could've kissed him right there, but then the twins turned to me. "What do you think, Gia?" they asked, in unison, of course.

"I agree with Hermione," I said immediately. "There's no way that any of you are smart enough, no offense," I added at their offended expressions, "to get past _Dumbledore's _Age Line. He's not stupid, he knows that you two clowns are going to try anyway, and he knows every trick in the book. I'm quite positive he would've thought of something as common as an age potion. Quite frankly, I'm disappointed in you two," I said, thoroughly enjoying the look on their faces.

"What?" they snapped, mock-hurt.

"I thought the infamous Weasley twins could think up something a bit more clever than an aging potion." I said, shaking my head. "Perhaps I was wrong, maybe you guys really are just… amateurs."

There was a unanimous gasp, and only sheer fear and respect for me kept the twins from either pranking or hexing me. They seemed to have a silent conversation and nodded. "You are absolutely right, Gia!" George said.

Fred nodded. "We're above a simple Aging Potion." He continued.

"And we'll definitely," George took over.

"Get past Dumbledore," Fred added.

"And his Aging Line." The two finished together. They ran off ahead, leaving us looking at each other with bemusement.

"Where is he?" said Ron, who hadn't listened to a word of that conversation, but looked through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students. "Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on.

"Professor, I vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy—" Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him. And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, I saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind us.

Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster. The color drained from Karkaroff's face as we watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway.

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup. Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him, but before they could walk away, Viktor separated from the crowd and searched the Hogwarts students.

His eyes locked on mine and he bowed low to me, in front of everyone. "It vos a pleasure to meet you, Gia. I look forvard to seeing you." He said carefully. I smiled, and curtsied, once again, leaving the Hall in a daze.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too. Have a good night." I said.

"You as vell," he said, before sweeping off with the rest of his schoolmates. We all watched them until they disappeared, and then the crowd gradually dispersed, all whispering. But for once, it wasn't about Harry… it was about me. As I picked up on several newly started rumors, I snorted. Some people thought I was trying to seduce Krum, others thought we would end up dating.

Neither of those would happen though, I thought, as I walked with the trio up to their Tower. I had someone else in mind. I watched the back of Harry as we walked, he was always careful to make sure that they hadn't left me or lost me, I found it sweet. Outside the portrait of the Fat Lady, I told them goodnight.

"Wait, where are you going?" Harry asked, as I turned to leave. I looked back at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. She hadn't told them I don't sleep there?

But this was a perfect opportunity, as tomorrow was the weekend. "I've never slept in this Tower, I'll show you tomorrow. I promise," I said. "Good night." And before they could protest, I disappeared around the corner.

Taking my usual confusing and careful walk back up to East Tower, I cast a series of spells behind me, because I could practically sense the trio wanting to follow me. I also know that they trust me enough not to, but I could still feel their curiosity. Knowing I was alone, I entered my home, stripped down to my pajamas, and slid into bed. Another eventful day at Hogwarts… and tomorrow would be even worse.

I was just slipping into sleep, when my eyes snapped open and I sat up quickly. The rules of the tournament had been running through my head all day, i had been researching it since the first day when Dumbledore announced we were hosting it. If Harry really will be forced into it, he might as well have every advantage…

I bit my lip. It was already midnight, and Harry was bound to be sleeping already, but if I could help him in anyway, I had to try. Making a decision, I hurriedly climbed back out of bed, and slipped into a short black, spaghetti strap dress and my black dragon-hide boots. I pulled on a deep, black robe that was emblazed with my family's crest and let it hang open. As usual, my hair fell in perfect red, ringlets.

Grabbing my wand and my money pouch, I used one of my other many odd and useful gifts: shadow stepping. Using the shadows in my dark room, I shifted from the East Tower to the Gryffindor common room, stepping out into the firelight when I was sure the room was empty. On quick, silent feet, I hurried up to Harry's dorm and entered. Passing the first bed, I glanced at Neville, and felt a smile tug at my lips at how peaceful he appeared.

Unable to resist, I bent down and kissed my pseudo-brother's forehead, watching as he gained a small smile and relaxed even further. I went to the very last bed, and cast a silencing charm around it. I knew that Harry needed more sleep than any of us, especially with the nightmares he told me about, nightmares he hadn't even told Ron or Hermione about, but I had to help him.

Leaning down, I gently shook Harry until his eyes snapped open. I flicked his nose, and he quickly shook the sleepy haze away, and looked at me in confusion.

"Gia," he whispered, "what are you doing in here? And why are you all dressed up?"

"We—"

"Shh, don't wake them up!" Harry said urgently. I rolled my eyes.

"Silencing charm, obviously." I drawled. Harry flushed, "Anyway, we have some business to attend to. Get dressed so we can get this over with."

He raised an eyebrow but obeyed, hurrying to pull on his school uniforms. I was seriously going to have to take him shopping, perhaps this weekend. When he was done, I grabbed his hand. We were close, staring into each other's eyes. "Harry, you have to trust me alright? And you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even Ron or Hermione what I'm going to show you tonight, at least until I'm ready for them to know."

Harry hesitated, and then sighed. "I understand." He said simply.

"Good, and I promise this trip will be very enlightening." I said. I pulled him into a tight hug, and felt his strong arms go around my waist. I wished, for a brief second, that we could stay in the position, but we had work to do. Very easily, I slipped through the shadows from Hogwarts Castle, and came out on the white stone steps in front of our destination.

"Here we are."


	6. The Moment Has Come

_Previous Chapter:_

"_Good, and I promise this trip will be very enlightening." I said. I pulled him into a tight hug, and felt his strong arms go around my waist. I wished, for a brief second, that we could stay in the position, but we had work to do. Very easily, I slipped through the shadows from Hogwarts Castle, and came out on the white stone steps in front of our destination._

"_Here we are." _

**Chapter Six**

Harry looked gobsmacked. He stared from me to the very familiar building in shock. Slowly, he calmed down and we let go off each other.

"You took us off grounds?" He hissed, stunned. I shrugged.

"No one will ever know. You can't apparate or use an unauthorized portkey on Hogwarts grounds, and since only my people can travel that way, there's no wards or defense against it. And no way to detect it, we'll be fine, now let's go." I explained, pulling Harry inside the glass doors.

"But why are we at Gringotts in the middle of the night?" Harry asked, allowing himself to be led up to the long counter, where dozens of little green, goblins were still hard at work.

"You'll see." I led the way up to a very familiar goblin, and nodded my head in respect, I saw Harry copy my gesture in my peripheral vision. The goblin nodded back, and showed off a very sharp-toothed grin.

"Ah, Miss Grey, what brings you here at this hour? I'm use to the odd hours you keep, but I had heard you enrolled at Hogwarts, and I can't imagine Dumbledore allowing this trip." Said the goblin, inquiringly.

I snorted. "Of course, he doesn't know, and he won't find out. Besides Grindwall, we aren't here about my assets, we're here about his." I said, gesturing to Harry. "My friend, Harry Potter."

Grindhall suddenly looked the slightest bit more interested, though only someone use to being around goblins would be able to tell the difference. Harry looked extremely uncomfortable under Grindwall's gaze, and he looked awfully confused as well.

"My assets? What do I need to know besides the fact that I have a Trust Vault?" Harry asked.

It was very hard to resist doing a face-palm.

Vaguely, I said, "Just follow Grindwall to his office, he'll explain everything to you." Harry looked at me.

"You're not coming?" he asked.

"No, it's a personal matter of the family. If you want though, you can tell me all about it," I said.

Harry looked resigned to his fate, and I squeezed his hand before he was led down one of Gringott's many hallways. I watched them until they disappeared, and then settled in one of the waiting chairs off to the side. I didn't know exactly what Harry would discover, but I know that it would be huge, I just had a feeling.

As I watched the goblins at work, my eyes clouded over, and another image bloomed in my minds' eye.

_It was Harry, again. Only this time, he wasn't in the Great Hall, he was in an office I was very familiar with. It was Grindwall's office, and Harry looked absolutely pissed. I had never seen him that angry before. I watched silently as Harry fumed._

"_He __**knew!?**_**"** _Harry snapped. "That bloody bastard __**knew**__ about the Dursleys and – and he did nothing? He left me there?"_

"_It would seem so, yes." Grindwall replied calmly._

"_Now only that, but he __**neglected**__ to tell me about __**my**__ own family vaults?" Harry growled. Suddenly, his face went from livid to a cold, calm within seconds. It was frightening. I knew that when Harry got like that, he was at his most dangerous._

The Gringotts lobby came back into view, and I sighed. I guess I know what Harry discovered after all. And I bet my Firebolt that Harry was talking about Dumbledore, the old coot…

I was in the lobby, waiting, for about another thirty minutes, when I saw Harry emerge looking rather calm, but I caught the slight slump to his shoulders. I approached him, and squeezed his hand. "Are you alright, Harry?" I asked. "Did you learn anything you didn't already know?"

"Loads," he said softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. Harry shook his head.

"Later," he mumbled, "can we go back now?"

I nodded. "Goodbye Grindwall, I'll see you soon enough." I called, as I led Harry back out into the dark night. I immediately pulled him into a tight embrace, and suddenly we were back at Hogwarts, but we weren't in his dorm, we were on my side of the seventh floor. He looked confused.

"I've never seen this part of the castle." He said, looking in all directions.

"Because it hasn't been seen or even known of in centuries. I found it, and this is where I've been living all year." I said.

"You've been living in a corridor?" Harry asked. I groaned and flicked his nose. Pulling him closer to the stone wall, the portrait of Isavéla appeared and opened. I led Harry inside, and he was dumbstruck. He looked around the common room, the spare bedroom suites, and finally, I showed him my bedroom. He whistled.

"No wonder you never sleep in the Gryffindor Tower, you've got complete privacy up here." Harry breathed.

I nodded. "Exactly, this is what I was going to show you, Hermione, and Ron tomorrow. I thought we could all study or relax up here, if you wanted."

Harry looked at me as if I were crazy. "Of course, this is brilliant. And it has the added benefit of being complete unknown from anyone else." He said.

"Precisely," I said, "but it's late we should get to bed, you and I are running some errands tomorrow."

Harry groaned. "Not _more _mysterious trips," he said whiningly.

I laughed. "There's no mystery, we're going to Diagon Alley to buy you some new clothes. No offense, and I know the reason why, but you're clothes are horrible."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't—"

"Harry," I said, cutting him off, "I know you have enough money to buy whatever you want. What's wrong in looking decent?"

Having no answer for that, Harry hugged me and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" I asked.

He looked confused. "Back to Gryffindor Tower?" he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"I thought it was obvious that you were staying here tonight?" I said. Harry blushed bright red, and I laughed. "I promise I won't have my wicked way with you, Harry. It's fine, really." I said.

Looking incredibly nervous and uncomfortable, Harry walked back over to me, and stood there, fidgeting. I huffed. "Honestly, it's not like I have the cooties."

Pulling off my robe, I banished that back into my closet. I kicked off my boots, and started to pull off my dress's straps when Harry made an odd noise. I looked up and saw that he was staring dutifully at the floor, his face as bright as my hair. I walked over to him, and took his hands in mine, waiting until he looked me in the eye.

"What's wrong, Harry? Am I not attractive?" I asked seriously, trying not to laugh at the horror in his eyes.

"N-no.. wait! I mean y-yes, I –" Harry stammered. I laughed and kissed his cheek lightly.

"Harry, it's not like we're about to shag, we're just going to sleep, alright?" I said.

Taking a deep breath, Harry slowly took off his own robe, and began unbuttoning his shirt. Satisfied, I completely pulled off my dress, standing there clad in only a deep red bra, and matching lace boy-shorts. Harry's breathing quickened, and his eyes raked over my body. I also noticed his hands shaking as he tried to undo his buttons.

Finding it all very hilarious, I slapped his hands away, and unbuttoned his shirt for him. I caressed his toned chest and shoulders as I pushed his shirt off. I felt Harry shiver at my touch, and his eyes closed pleasurably. He kicked off his shoes and undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor. He was now only in black boxers, and socks. Silently, I rested my head on Harry's warm chest, and relaxed as he wrapped his arms around me. Everywhere our skin touched, it burned pleasantly, and we stood like that, our eyes closed, for several long minutes.

Finally, I sighed and pulled away. I climbed into bed, and held open the comforter for Harry, who hesitated for a split second before climbing in and groaning happily as he sunk into the mattress. I pulled the comforter up to our shoulders and turned away from Harry. I felt him come close behind me, my back pressed tightly against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes, and a second later, we were both sound asleep.

The next morning, as the sun rose, I felt the heat on my bare back, but I was so comfortable, I didn't even care. My face was buried in something warm and smelled faintly of caramel and something that reminded me of my best friend, Harry. As that thought crossed my mind, I remembered the night before, and peeked open my eyes. The thing that my face buried in was, in fact, Harry's neck. Apparently, we had shifted in the night, and now he was lying halfway on his side, halfway on his back, his arms still firmly around me. I was rested partially on his chest, partially on my side.

I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was still asleep. Wandlessly summoning my wand, I checked the time. It was only seven in the morning. Snuggling deeper into Harry, I immediately fell back to sleep

The next time I awoke, I still felt the warmth of the sun on my bare back, but I also felt Harry tracing lazy circles on my back. His face was buried in my hair, and I was very reluctant to get up. When Harry spoke, I felt the rumble in his chest.

"Ron and Hermione will be wondering where I am," he said softly, though he made no move to get up.

I groaned. "It's the weekend, can't we sleep in?" I whined.

Harry snorted. "It's already ten Gia, we've slept in plenty."

Sighing very deeply and dramatically, I resigned myself to my fate and rolled out of Harry's arms and out of bed. Stretching, I saw Harry eyeing my body longingly, no doubt wishing he had kept me in bed. I stuck my tongue out at him, and padded into the bathroom. Going through my daily routine, I emerged thirty minutes later wrapped in a fluffy, black towel. My hair was still dripped slightly, and when Harry laid eyes on my partially naked body, his widened comically.

"Your turn," I said, walking over to my huge, magically expanded walk-in closet.

"I don't have any other clothes with me," Harry pointed out. He stood up and stretched, and I couldn't resist taking in his Quidditch toned body. The training I had been putting him through the past two months had also done wonders for him.

"I'll conjure you some for the day, since we're going shopping anyway." I saw his face and shrugged. "There's no stopping me Harry, you know that. So, take your pretty little self into the shower and I'll have some clothes ready when you come out."

Sighing heavily, Harry went into the bathroom. While he washed, I pondered and conjured him black boxers, black skinny jeans, black trainers, and an emerald green shirt that matched his eyes perfectly. The fact that it was a v-neck and would show off his amazing body was a plus, as well, I thought. When Harry emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, only a towel wrapped around his waist, I had to resist having my way with him right there.

I was now in jade green lingerie, and the fact that they matched Harry's eyes didn't escape his notice. He simply kissed my forehead, and got dressed. I turned away as he dressed, pulling on a dress similar to the one I had worn the previous night, only this one matched Harry's shirt. I slipped into my black dragon-hide boots and magically dried my hair. I pulled on a matching open robe and slipped my wand into one of the deep pockets.

Turning to Harry, we looked in one of my huge mirrors. We looked so good together, matching and all. I ached to be more than friends, I had for awhile, but I didn't want to push our friendship. Harry looked rather pleased with how we looked as well, and ran a hand through his hair, completely unaware that it looked perfectly sexy like that.

Finally dressed, I grabbed my money pouch again, and Harry and I headed from the East Tower and into the main corridors. The envious glares we both received because of each other were rather humorous, and by the time we arrived in the full Great Hall, we were laughing like mad. When we walked in, all conversation fell silent as the students from all three schools took us in, and then the noise peaked as everyone began to whisper.

I dragged Harry over to the Gryffindor Table, and we sat in our usual seats across from Hermione and Ron, both of whom looked stunned.

"W-why are you two all dressed up?" Hermione asked, attempting to sound nonchalant. I could tell she wasn't jealous, although I knew she was very self-conscious and wished she looked more like me.

"You know this is how I normally dress when we aren't required to wear the uniform, Mione." I said lightly. It was true, I was always dressed rather nicely on the weekends and during meals and such.

"How come you two are matching though?" She asked, "And Harry, that shirt really does make your eyes practically glow. And Gia, that dress with your hair…"

We smiled at her and began to fix our plates. "It just sort of happened that way," Harry said.

Ron hadn't said anything yet, he was still stuffing food in his mouth, but I could tell he was the slightest bit jealous. "Where were you this morning? You weren't in the dorm when I woke up." He asked, swallowing a mouthful of eggs.

"I was with Gia," Harry said simply. Hermione looked at us.

"I'll show you guys when we get back," I said.

"Get back? Where are you going?" Hermione asked. I hesitated. I knew Hermione would flip out if she knew we were breaking a dozen rules by leaving campus without permission, but I wasn't going to lie.

"We're going to Diagon Alley to get Harry some new clothes, cover for us?" I asked softly, so no one else could hear. As expected, Hermione's face darkened. "Oh come on Hermione, you _know_ why he hasn't got any decent clothes." I muttered.

Her faced pinked and she had the decency to look slightly ashamed. "Right," she muttered. "Yeah, we'll cover for you. Just try not to be gone too long or people will talk."

Harry and I both snorted. "They're already talking Hermione," Harry said.

"That ship has sailed," I agreed.

Funnily enough, neither of us seemed to care about this fact. As we ate breakfast, I discreetly cast a charm underneath the table that told me Hermione and Ron's clothes sizes. It wouldn't be right to go shopping and not get them stuff too. When breakfast was cleared, we all stood up.

"Where should we look for you two when we come back?" Harry asked as we headed for the Great Hall doors along with everyone else, though Harry and I were still being stared at.

"The library," Hermione said immediately, to Ron's horror.

"But—" his words were cut off as two people approached our little group from different directions, though they arrived at the same time. Fleur and Viktor

"Vow," Viktor said, bowing to me and Hermione. "You look very beautiful, Miss Grey."

I smiled, noticing how Harry tensed beside me. "Thank you Viktor, but please, call me Gia." He nodded.

Fleur and I kissed each other's cheeks. "Oui, tu es aussi bon que moi. Etes-vous sûr que vous ne font pas partie Vélane?" I laughed, and shook my head.

"Je ne suis pas partie Vélane, mais je ne suis pas tout à fait humain non plus." I replied. Fleur looked intrigued. In my peripheral, I saw Hermione pinch Ron, as he was once again ogling Fleur. I sighed. Fleur followed my eyes and rolled her own.

"Il se fatiguer, n'est-ce pas? avoir les gars vous regardent, pratiquement dans le coma, tout le temps." I asked. Fleur nodded.

"Oui, c'est vrai. Mais je vous verrai plus tard?" she asked.

I nodded. "Sure," I said. And with that, Fleur left.

I looked at the trio and they, along with Viktor, were all staring at me. "What? You saw me talking to her last night, why the surprise?" I asked.

Harry shook his head. "It's just that you two seem really close already." Hermione and Ron nodded, the latter had just snapped out of his daze as soon as Fleur left.

I shrugged. "The French are affectionate people."

"You are French?" Viktor asked.

I shook my head, "No, but I travel a lot, and know a lot of languages." I smiled. I said something in Bulgarian, and Viktor laughed. He bowed once again to Hermione and I, kissing the back of our hands, before leaving after bidding me a farewell.

"What did you say to him?" Hermione asked, her cheeks slightly pink.

"I just told him that I spoke Bulgarian, but my accent was terrible. He thought it was funny," I said. I tugged Harry's hand, "Well, we'd better be off, we'll catch up with you two later, alright?"

Hermione nodded, and dragged Ron in the direction of the library. I saw Harry's face and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

He shook his head, trying to appear uncaring. "You and Viktor seem… friendly."

I snorted, and tried to hold back a giggle, but I couldn't. "I'm not interested in Viktor that way, Harry." I said, it should've been obvious. "It's almost the same as when I first met you. He's use to having screaming, airhead, fan girls around, and so are you. And one of the reasons you and I became friends was because I was normal around you."

Harry said nothing. I rolled my eyes and huffed, reaching up on my tiptoes, as I was only 4'11 while Harry was at least 5'9, and kissed his cheek. "Viktor and I are just friends, alright?" I asked.

Harry grinned and nodded. And with that, we headed back up to the East Tower, and I hadn't even noticed that we were still holding hands until we entered through the portrait hole. I said nothing, and neither did Harry. We shadow stepped from my room, to an alley in one of the smaller alleys branching off from Diagon. It was around eleven when we arrived, and when I was finally done with Harry, it was almost three. Even though I had shrunk all of our purchases, our pockets still bulged.

I had made sure to buy Hermione and Ron loads of clothes and stuff as well, and had a surprise for Hermione when we returned to the school. We shadow traveled straight into Harry's dorm where I unshrunk his things and he carefully packed it all away. It had been one of the first times all day that we had stopped holding hands, but neither of still commented on it. It felt too natural to ruin with words.

Harry checked the Marauders' Map, something he had showed me after telling me all about Sirius, and found Hermione and Ron. Sure enough, they were both in the library. We headed there, and as soon as Ron caught sight of us, his face went from deathly bored to incredibly relieved. He rushed over to us and pulled us in bone-crushing hugs.

"Oh sweet bloody Merlin," he exclaimed, ignoring Madam Pince's shushing. "She," Ron spat, pointing at Hermione, who had just walked over to us, "has been making me study for _hours_." He whined.

Harry and I laughed softly. "Well, enough of that." I said. I grabbed Hermione, and dragged her from the library. Keeping up my caution, adding confusion spells in case anyone followed us, I led the trio up to the East Tower and explained when we settled in my common room. Hermione and Ron were both incredibly amazed and agreed to keep it a secret.

Harry and I shared an amused look. "Well," I said, standing up from one of the couches, "Ron, Harry has to show you some stuff. Hermione, you're coming with me." Against her protests, I dragged her into my room and pushed her onto my bed.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, a bit taken aback. I grinned and emptied the pile of contents from my pockets and returned them back to their original size, leaving a mountain of shopping bags. Hermione's eyes popped.

"Those don't look like boy's clothes," she said. I snorted.

"Harry's pile is bigger than this," I said nonchalantly. Hermione looked faint, "Besides, only a quarter of this is for me. The rest is yours."

Hermione immediately began to splutter and protest. "Hermione, stop." I said. She fell silent, her eyes still wide as saucers.

"I know you have decent clothes, and I also know you have self-confidence issues, though I don't know why." I stalled her protests. "Just listen. I've decided to help you, by pampering you today, and of course," I grinned evilly, "using you as my life-sized Barbie doll."

Hermione looked from the mountain of clothes to me, and sighed, knowing she wouldn't win. "How do you even know my sizes?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I used a charm for that at breakfast. Now," I said, "let the fun begin."


	7. Brand New

_Previous Chapter:_

**Chapter Seven**

I started by using a spell to strip her down to her bra and underwear, neither were very attractive, and she shrieked bloody murder and tried to cover herself. "Hermione," I yelled, "I'm not going to have my wicked way with you, geez. We're both girls, calm down." I said.

Then, I dragged her into the bathroom, which made her eyes pop again, and sat her down at the large sink, backwards. I washed her hair with a special brand of witch shampoo and conditioner called Witch Wonders, it was specifically made for people with hair like Hermione's. After I rinsed it, towel dried her hair, and brushed it for fifteen minutes, her honey brown hair fell in thick waves down to her mid-back.

She had stared in shock in the mirror, caressing the silky texture of her hair, after living so long with bushy hair. "How long does it last?" she asked softly.

I grinned. "It's permanent."

She nearly choked me out in a tight hug, and I had to wrestle free. After that, I dragged her back into my bedroom where I made her try on each and every outfit and article of clothing I had bought for her. I was clearly a genius, as each piece complimented her figure and weren't too skimpy or conservative. I forced her to put on an exotic blue dress that came to her lower thighs, it had a black ribbon around her waist, showing off her curves. And a black lace layer over the blue. The blue looked perfect with her honey brown hair, and I made her put on black dragon-hide boots.

As she stood in front of the mirror, staring in shock at the person staring back at her, I gave her a matching open robe to wear, and then made her close her eyes as I placed a necklace around her neck. It had a simple silver chain, but the special part was the 5 3/4 carat created sapphire and diamond sterling silver ring that hung from it. I had specially picked it out for her, and it contained a bunch of protection charms on it.

When Hermione opened her eyes, she gasped and fingered the ring lovingly. I knew she would take care of it. Her eyes were glossy as she hugged me again. I patted her back, "I just don't want you to feel like you have to compare yourself to me Hermione, obviously, you are beautiful. I already knew that, Harry already knew that, Ron… is oblivious but he won't remain like that when he sees you."

Hermione jerked back and stared at me. I snorted. "Please Hermione, don't insult my intelligence. I know you have a crush on Ron, at least a mild one." Her blush was answer enough.

"Wait until you see him in the clothes I picked out for him," I said. We shared a smile. I pulled out my magical digital camera, and Hermione and I took a bunch of pictures. Harry and I had taken loads of pictures as we had shopped, and I hoped to create a photo album of all of us and our friends. I already had hundreds of pictures from pranks the twins, peeves, and I had pulled on the school, as well as from classes and such.

I squeezed Hermione's hand, "You ready to go out there?" I said. Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded. We exited my room, and I cleared my throat. Harry and Ron looked up, and they looked close to fainting as they laid eyes on Hermione. Ron stood up, face red.

"H-hermione?" he stuttered.

Hermione smiled prettily. Poor Ron didn't know what to do besides stare. "Yes Ron, what do you think?" she asked.

"You l-look… beautiful," he said, "as always." I could've kissed Ron myself at that moment. That had been the perfect thing to say, and Hermione blushed and the two sat on the couch.

Harry complimented Hermione as well, but I could see that his eyes were on me. I stuck my tongue out at him. I looked at Ron more closely and saw that he was, in fact, wearing an outfit that I had bought him. He looked rather dashing. He was wearing black skinny jeans as well, but instead of a green shirt, his was a blue that matched Hermione's dress and his own bright blue eyes. In all, we looked like we were going to a dance or something.

"I think," I said, breaking the companionable silence, "that we should go show off Ron and Hermione. What do you think, Harry?" We shared a smirk and stood up, dragging our two protesting best friends out into the corridor. After covering our tracks, Harry and I pulled them into the main corridors, and paraded them around the school, letting everyone see their new look.

Hermione and I got appreciative looks, even a few bold catcalls and whistles from older boys of other houses, including the Weasley twins who pronounced their undying love for us. Use to the attention, I simply laughed and bantered. Hermione, however, blushed the entire time. As I paraded my girl best friend around, Harry and Ron were also being ogled by the entire female population of Hogwarts, as well as girls from the other two schools. The foreign guys had, of course, bowed to us, kissed our hands, and such gentlemanly things that made us giggle.

It was all good fun, and we laughed loads, and of course, I was taking pictures of it all. And even though we were all being hit on, I stuck next to Harry, while Hermione stuck next to Ron, almost like a clear signal to all. As we wandered about the building, we stopped in the entrance hall to watch people enter their names in the Goblet. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied, fighting a blush. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would've if it had been me... Wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"

Someone laughed behind Harry. Turning, we saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me. "Just taken it."

"What?" said Ron.

I groaned. "Please tell me you three idiots didn't take an aging potion?" The large grins told us everything we wanted to know.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "Like Gia said last night, I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

"You lot resorted to something as common as aging potions because you couldn't think of anything, am I right?" I asked. They refused to meet my eyes. "You idiots are going to get what's coming to you. And when it doesn't work," I waved my little camera, "I'm getting blackmail material proof."

This caused the three boys to gulp, but they quickly got over it.

Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then—I'll go first—"

We all watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley—Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

For a split second I actually, stupidly thought it had worked—George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred—but the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards. They even posed for a bunch of pictures that I was rapidly taking of them and their beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "And I do believe I heard Miss Grey and Miss Granger warn you two as well. I'd suggest listening to these two bright girls in the future."

Hermione and I grinned at each other, and discreetly slapped fives.

"I also suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, and the trio and I, also chortling, went in to the Great Hall where most people were hanging out for the day. The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. This was my first Hogwarts Halloween, and it was absolutely amazing.

Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.

"There's a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told us. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."

Harry, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook his head in disgust. "We can't have a Slytherin champion!"

I wanted to argue about their prejudice, but quite frankly, I agreed to some degree. If we had a Slytherin champion, they would no doubt stoop to dirty tactics and put Hogwarts in a bad light.

"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."

"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly. People were cheering out in the entrance hall. We all swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.

"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry.

"Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.

"I had my birthday last week," said Angelina. She turned to me, and gave me a one-armed hug. "Thanks, by the way, that Broom Servicing Kit as a birthday gift, Gia. It's perfect."

"No problem," I said.

"Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!" The boys and I agreed whole-heartedly.

"Thanks, guys," said Angelina, smiling at us.

"Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him. I flicked Seamus's nose.

"Watch it Seamus, lest one of the Puffs decide to feed you to those skrewts." I warned. Everyone laughed, though Seamus had paled and eyed the Hufflepuff table warily.

"What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked Harry, Hermione, and me when we were leaving the Great Hall.

"We haven't been down to visit Hagrid in a while," said Harry.

"Okay," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the skrewts."

"Hey, Gia," said Harry suddenly. "It's your friend... "

The students from Beauxbaton were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, Fleur. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly. Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbaton students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.

"What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to Harry as Fleur dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. "Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?"

"Dunno," said Harry. "Hang around, I suppose... Madame Maxime's staying to judge, isn't she?"

When all the Beauxbatos students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime started to lead them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again, until I called out to Fleur.

"Fleur, tiens bon!" I called in French. Instead of just Fleur stopping, all of the Beauxbaton group, including Madame Maxime stopped and turned around. Fleur smiled and hurried over to me, we kissed cheeks again. I pointed at the Goblet.

"Je vois que vous avez entré. Etes-vous excité?" I asked. She nodded happily.

"Oui, comme tout le monde, j'espère que je suis choisi comme champion." Fleur said. I nodded understandingly.

"Bonne chance, tu ferais un grand champion!" I complimented. I saw Madame Maxime smiling grandly at us as we talked. I could tell she liked me already.

"Merci, entrez-vous?" She asked.

I snorted and shook my head. "Non, Non, je ne suis pas assez vieux pour entrer. Qu'advient-il de ceux qui ne sont pas choisis?"

Fleur raised an eyebrow in surprise. Apparently, she had thought I was older than I really was. "ils restent à regarder le tournoi."

We both shrugged. "Je vais vous voir à la fête…"

_My eyes clouded over rapidly, and there I was again, in the Great Hall. Because of the similar decorations, I knew that it was the feast later on tonight. I watched as both Fleur and Viktor were chosen as champions for their school. _Fleur swam back into my view. Damn, then who was the real Hogwarts champion?

Thankfully, Fleur hadn't noticed my momentary lapse. "J'ai un sentiment que vous serez choisi." I said vaguely. She smiled and nodded, "Oui, vous voyez là."

Madame Maxime called out a farewell to me, and I responded, watching them leave. I walked back over to the trio, ignoring the audience we had. "She said that those who aren't chosen stay to watch the tournament." I said. The three stared at me.

"What else did she say?" Hermione asked.

"She said she's excited, and she hopes she gets chosen. I told her she'd make a great champion, which she would. She asked me if I was entering," I nodded at their disbelieving looks, "she thought I was a seventh year. Anyway, I told her I was too young to enter, and that was basically it."

The trio, satisfied, fell into step beside me and we headed for Hagrid's. As we neared Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbaton's sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder-blue carriage in which they had arrived had been parked two hundred yards from Hagrid's front door, and the students were climbing back inside it. The elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it.

Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and Fang's booming barks answered instantly.

"Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live!"

"We've been really busy, Hag—" Hermione started to say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, apparently lost for words. Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. This wasn't the worst of it, though; he had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what appeared to be axle grease. It was now slicked down into two bunches-perhaps he had tried a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair. The look didn't really suit Hagrid at all.

For a moment, Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding not to comment, she said, "Erm—where are the skrewts?" However, being the appearance snob that I am, I couldn't leave the poor guy like that. He was obvious head over heels for Madame Maxime.

"Hagrid," I said, "I'm sorry, but this isn't going to cut it." He looked confused. I ignored the trio's astounded faces and furiously shaking heads, and pushed Hagrid back into his cabin, the trio following behind me.

I sat Hagrid on his bed as the other three sat the table, and watched as I pulled out my wand. "Wha' are yeh goin' ter do, Gia?" Hagrid asked.

"I'm going to fix you up for Madame Maxime, obviously." I said, thinking about where to start. Hagrid blushed brightly, but eyed all four of us.

"You lot look mighty nice, ter'day." He commented. They all pointed at me.

"She dressed us." They said in unison.

Apparently deciding that I was very capable, Hagrid relaxed and I got to work. I decided to start from the top and work my way down. Pondering, I waved my wand and whatever product Hagrid had used in his hair disappeared, causing it to fluff up even more than usual. I ran through every beauty spell in my repertoire, and it was a lot, and decided on cleaning his hair first, and then gently combing out all the tangles and knots.

After that, I used a spell that smoothed it down so that it hung down straight, oddly reminiscent of Dumbledore's hair and beard, only Hagrid's was black. Doing this showed off more of Hagrid's kind eyes, and I tied his beard with a little leather band. That done, I moved on next. I turned his checkered tie plain black, his shirt a crisp white, and his hairy brown suit into black slacks and a matching jacket. I figured he'd get hot eventually, and didn't want him to sweat, so I made him take off the black jacket, and rolled up his white sleeves, showing off his huge, muscled, hairy arms.

Standing back, I looked from Hagrid to the trio, who were staring in utter shock and amazement. Hagrid looked at them uncertainly. "Well, how do I look?" he asked.

Harry and Ron broke into huge grins, and clapped Hagrid's huge shoulders. "Madame Maxime won't know what hit her!" Harry exclaimed honestly.

"Wow Hagrid," Hermione breathed, "You look so…dapper." She decided. Hagrid blushed lightly, and he pulled me into a hug that nearly broke my entire rib cage.

When he let me go, I inhaled as much air as possible, and managed a smile at Hagrid, who was thanking me profusely. I absently conjured a mirror so that he could see himself, and he was rather pleased.

"Now Hagrid," I said, once I could properly breathe again, "it'll get cooler as the night goes on, so right before the feast, I suggest unrolling your sleeves and putting the jacket back on."

"Alrigh' Gia, and thank yeh again." He said happily. I couldn't help but smile at him, just like that first day I met him.

"Anything for a friend, Hagrid."

We sat down at the table while Hagrid started to make tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as we were.

"You wait," he said, grinning. "You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task... Ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."

"Go on, Hagrid!" We all urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.

"I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"

We ended up having another snack with Hagrid, though we didn't eat much—Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in hers, we lost our appetites. However, we enjoyed ourselves trying to make Hagrid tell us what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet.

A light rain had started to fall by mid-afternoon; it was very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, and we listened to Hagrid tell us stories of not only the Marauders, but also the twins and Ron's twin uncles Gideon and Fabian, who had been killed in the war. Apparently, they were all pranksters and he'd spent all his time chasing them away from the forest.

When it had begun to get dark around half-past five, we decided it was time to get backup to the castle for the Halloween feast—and, more important, the announcement of the school champions.

"I'll come with yeh," said Hagrid, putting away his darning. "Jus' give us a sec."

Hagrid got up, went across to the chest of drawers beside his bed, and began searching for something inside it. We didn't pay too much attention until a truly horrible smell reached our nostrils.

Coughing, Ron said, "Hagrid, what's that?"

"Eh?" said Hagrid, turning around with a large bottle in his hand. "Don' yeh like it?"

"Is that aftershave?" said Hermione in a slightly choked voice.

"Err—eau de cologne," Hagrid muttered. He was blushing. "Maybe it's a bit much," he said gruffly. "I'll go take it off, hang on..."

"Wait, let me do it." I said, stopping him. Knowing how good I was, Hagrid simply stood still while I worked. I waved my wand, opening all of the windows to his cabin, and used a spell to purify the air. Then, I used another spell to clean that horrid cologne off of Hagrid, and instead, replaced it with a faint musk smell. It didn't smell as out of place, and I found it calming.

"Thanks Gia," Hagrid said again.

The trio all took deep, clean breaths, shooting me grateful looks. I shrugged and smiled slightly.

"Look!" said Ron suddenly, pointing out of the window. Hagrid had just straightened up and turned around. If he had been blushing before, it was nothing to what he was doing now. I had to force Hagrid out of the cabin, and when he did, we peered through the window and saw that Madame Maxime and the Beauxbaton students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly about to set off for the feast too.

We couldn't hear what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression that I knew very well. Ah, the poor man was in love. I grinned smugly as I watched them.

"She's impressed," I said to the others. "with how well he's 'cleaned up'. She's fond of him as well."

"He's going up to the castle with her!" said Hermione indignantly. "I thought he was waiting for us!"

Without so much as a backward glance at his cabin, Hagrid was trudging off up the grounds with Madame Maxime, the Beauxbaton students following in their wake, jogging to keep up with their enormous strides.

"He fancies her!" said Ron incredulously. "Well, if they end up having children, they'll be setting a world record—bet any baby of theirs would weigh about a ton."

I slapped Ron on the back of his head. "They obviously fancy each other. I think it's rather sweet."

Hermione nodded in agreement, and we grinned. "You did a great job, fixing him up." She said. "I've never seen him look that good."

We let ourselves out of the cabin and shut the door behind us. It was surprisingly dark outside. Drawing our cloaks more closely around ourselves, we set off up the sloping lawns.

"Ooh it's them, look!" Hermione whispered.

The Durmstrang party was walking up toward the castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang students were straggling along behind them. Ron watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look around as he reached the front doors a little ahead us, until I called his name, of course.

"Viktor!" I called.

He glanced over his shoulder, and stopped, causing the rest of his school, including Karkaroff to stop as well. He smiled and waited until the trio and I caught up. I grinned at him, but turned to Karkaroff respectfully, and executed my usually perfectly graceful curtsy that left them all speechless.

"Headmaster Karkaroff," I greeted respectfully.

Somewhat following my lead, Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded their heads in respect. Karkaroff eyed me, an odd sort of smile on his face as he looked from me to Viktor's smiling face.

"I heard you entered Viktor," I said to him, after Karkaroff had simply bowed to me. Viktor nodded with a smile. "Well, good luck. You'll make a great champion for your school," Viktor's smile widened, "plus, I have a feeling you'll be chosen." I said vaguely.

"Thank you Gia," Viktor said carefully, watching his English.

As usual, he kissed the back of my hand, nodded to my friends, and he and the rest of Durmstrang headed inside. I looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and raised an eyebrow at their expressions. Harry was glaring at the back of Viktor's head, Ron looked sort of dumbstruck at being that close to one of his idols, and Hermione had an odd sort of bemused look on her face. I shrugged, and led the way inside.

When we entered the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George—clean-shaven again—seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.

"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as we sat down.

"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was our second feast in two days, we didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as we would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, I simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

Of course, I had an unfair advantage of already knowing, and I dreaded what would happen to Harry, but there was nothing I could do. I had kept him occupied all day, and except to watch Fred and George fail, we had stayed away from the Goblet. Everything else was out of my hands. I felt the familiar dread build up.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber"—he indicated the door behind the staff table—"where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, blue-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting... A few people kept checking their watches...

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered two seats away from us. The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it—the whole room gasped. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. We saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; as all of the Durmstrang students stood to applaud Viktor, so did I. Having witnessed our conversations in the past two days, no one questioned it. Viktor turned right, walked along the staff table, and glanced over his shoulder. He saw me standing, clapping for him, and sent me a slight grin before he disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbaton," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Fleur got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbaton party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, I thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms. Besides Madame Maxime, I was the only other person to stand while I applauded her. Fleur waved happily at me, which I returned, before she too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it.

The Hogwarts champion next...

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment. "The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry, Hermione, and I; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real—"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to all of us what had distracted him. The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore.

My face paled of any and all color, and I felt faint. The dread that had slowly but surely been building in my gut, and though it must've been a giveaway, I grabbed Harry's hand tightly. I couldn't look him in the face, my eyes were locked on Dumbledore as he cleared his throat.

"Harry Potter."


	8. Competition

_Previous Chapter:_

_My face paled of any and all color, and I felt faint. The dread that had slowly but surely been building in my gut, and though it must've been a giveaway, I grabbed Harry's hand tightly. I couldn't look him in the face, my eyes were locked on Dumbledore as he cleared his throat. _

"_Harry Potter."_

**Chapter Eight**

Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was obviously stunned. He looked numb. There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to Ron, Hermione, and me; beyond us, we saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

I looked at Ron and Hermione angrily as both of them stared just as blankly back. I grabbed Harry's hand, forcing him to look at me. "Harry, I believe you."

Just those four words seemed to bring him back to reality. He still looked terrified, but perhaps not deathly so. "I'm here Harry, and I'll be waiting for you in the Gryffindor Tower. You have to go." I whispered.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall. "Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push. Harry got to his feet, and I steadied him, squeezed his hand one last time before he walked up to the Head Table. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It must've felt like an immensely long walk; and I was sure he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well... Through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling. Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. I glared at the banner just behind the Head Table so hard, I was sure I smelled smoke, as Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall.

We were immediately dismissed to bed, and as soon Dumbledore disappeared, the noise in the Great Hall peaked greatly. I grabbed Ron and Hermione and led the Gryffindors back up to the Tower. I listened to all of them behind me, catching their theories and accusations. I huffed and tightened my grip on Ron and Hermione's arms. The other houses of course thought he'd cheated, and hated him. That much was obvious. But what pissed me off was the other Gryffindors.

They thought Harry cheated too, but instead of being angry, they were happy. In fact, they wanted to _celebrate. _When we spilled into the Gryffindor Tower, I blinked and suddenly it was a party going on. I felt a reddish tingle enter my vision, and I let go of Ron and Hermione after pulling them into a corner.

Studying their faces, I longed to slap them both. Ron's face was as open as a book. The envy and hate was written their very clearly, and I knew with his temper and thickness, his mind wasn't going to be changed, at least not anytime soon. But Hermione's was the one that shocked me. She still looked shocked, but also hurt.

"You guys don't really think Harry entered, do you?" I asked evenly.

Ron snorted derisively. "Of course that lousy, lying attention—"

"Ron, shut the fuck up before I do something we'll both regret!" I snapped. His mouth snapped shut, and he fumed silently. I turned expectantly to Hermione, who looked reluctant. She was staring off into space, and seemed to remember something. Her eyes hardened and she shook her head firmly.

"Of course Harry _didn't_ enter," she stated. I could've kissed the girl. Ron glared at her with betrayal, which I found rich, considering his opinion on the subject. "His face when his name was called…" Hermione whispered.

Ron growled and stormed off, up to the boys' dorm, slamming the door shut behind him. Sighing, Hermione and I sat there in that corner, determined to wait for Harry. He didn't show up for another thirty minutes, but by then the party was still going strong. The minute he stepped through the portrait hole, the entire house burst into thunderous cheers so loud, I was certain the Slytherins down in the dungeons could hear it.

Harry looked to be in a daze, and didn't even see us in the corner. He stumbled up to his dorm, ignoring the calls and congratulations and slaps on his shoulders and back. He disappeared, and Hermione and I shared a worried look. I was staring at the door to their dorm, when of course, my gift chose that moment to pipe up. _My eyes clouded over, and suddenly I wasn't looking at the party going on in the common room, but at the argument going on behind the closed doors of Harry's dorm room._

"_I don't believe this! Ron, you've been my best friend for three years, you know I hate the fame and attention, what would I need more for? I thought you of all people would believe me. Even Gia believes me! I didn't put my name in that Goblet!" Harry shouted. _

_Luckily, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were in the common room with the other Gryffindors 'celebrating' having one of their own as a Triwizard Champion. "Sure Harry," Ron said, his voice thick with sarcasm, "yet you admitted just this morning that if you wanted to, you could've entered your name last night and no one would've seen you. And then the next day – surprise, surprise – your name gets shot from the Goblet. I'm not as stupid as you might think."_

"_Yeah? Well, you're not exactly showing proof of that! I told all of you yesterday that I had enough near-death experiences to last a life time!" Harry snapped._

"_Oh, really? Well, that's nice. You should go to bed Harry, wouldn't want dark circles in case you get called in for a photo shoot or something." Ron shot back, firmly and pointedly shutting the curtains around his bed, and leaving Harry standing in the middle of the room, fuming._

"_Ron, you are so fucking stupid! You know you're making a mistake, I know that too, but you're damned pride is going to ruin our friendship! We've been through practically everything, particularly nearing death, and you're going to let some stupid tournament ruin that? Well, you what? Fine. I'm not going to waste time trying to change your mind; you can do that on your own." Harry spoke softly._

The scene faded away and I was once again in the common room. I gripped the arms of my chair so tightly, I heard a slight tearing sound. My knuckles were white, I was seeing red, and my expression was filled with so much venom that most people who glanced at me scuttled to the far side of the room. That _idiot_ Ron... Ooh, when I got my hands on him!

I glanced at Hermione, and saw her staring wide-eyed and fearfully at me. I took several deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked tentatively.

I sighed. "You'll see in a minute." I said.

Sure enough, Harry slammed open the dorm door so hard it hit the wall behind it and bounced back. The party slowed as everyone stared at Harry, but I grabbed Hermione and we jumped up. Harry spotted up and walked over to us, obviously pissed off to no end. Ignoring the other Gryffindors, we left the common room and headed for the East Tower in silence. I still cast the usual spells to cover our tracks, and we arrived rather quickly.

I led them through the common room and into my bedroom, waving my wand, which caused all of Hermione and my clothes to shoot into my closet. Hermione sank into a furry half-sphere hammock that hung from the ceiling, while Harry settled on the padded windowsill, staring out at the grounds.

I sat on the edge of my bed, Hermione and I both looking at Harry until he calmed down. When I felt he was clam enough, I broke the silence. "Harry – what happened?"

Harry, very slowly, looked away from the window and at us. Taking a deep breath, he spent the next twenty minutes recounting the events that happened after he had disappeared into the room off the Great Hall.

"… and all the adults agreed that I was being setup, and not for something pleasant." Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. Even I knew that rarely anything that happened to Harry was very pleasant.

"They all spoke out their theories and suspicions, and yet none of them listened or asked what I had to say, as if this wasn't my life they were gambling with! They practically pushed me to the side, and discussed _my_ life as if I were too stupid to do it myself!" Hermione flinched slightly at the venom in Harry's tone as he spoke, but I heard the underlying hurt.

"Apparently, I'm old enough to give up my life to save the bloody world every year, but I'm not old enough to have a say in what happens to _my_ life in between all of that." Harry snapped. He sighed. "I'll give you one bloody guess as to who's causing the trouble this year."

Hermione and I shared a look. "Voldemort," we groaned in unison. Harry nodded.

I huffed. "Doesn't that _thing_ ever give up?" I snapped rhetorically.

Harry snorted. "Of course not," he said sarcastically. "But I'm just lucky that you two believe me."

We stared at Harry in amazement. "Harry, I've been your best friend for over three years, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself!" Hermione exclaimed. "One look at your face after your name was called and I knew. You looked terrified and shocked, but also resigned, as if you were expecting it." She gave him a curious look.

I nodded. "I may not have known you as long as Hermione, but I know _you_ Harry, and I knew you didn't enter your own name. You told us yourself that you wouldn't enter." I said. "But Hermione has a point, you didn't seem too..." I waved my hands vaguely, unable to come up with the right word.

"The way my life, and every year at Hogwarts goes, it wasn't that much of leap when a dangerous contest that can possibly kill you is involved. I wasn't surprised because I had hoped for a normal year, but had expected _something_ to be around to kill me…again. Only this time, it's not possessed teachers, three-headed dogs, a basilisk, or a hundred Dementors…it's a bloody tournament!" Harry said angrily.

"Come here Harry," I said softly. He walked over to where I sat on the edge of my bed, and I pulled him down so that he was sitting on the floor in front of me. He leaned his head back on my lap, and I began to gently card my fingers through his thick, wild curls. "You have me and Hermione, Harry. We are not leaving you alone in this."

"I wish Ron felt the same," he muttered, his eyes fluttered shut.

Hermione huffed. "Ron is an idiot, we all knew that. But he'll come to his senses… eventually." She said uncertainly.

"And what about the other Houses? What do they think?" Harry asked.

"The Hufflepuffs are adamant that you stole their one shot at finally getting some recognition and glory, they all hate you." I began softly, reciting what I'd overheard.

"Cho Chang, Cedric's girlfriend, turned Ravenclaw house against Gryffindor, but you specifically. And Slytherin…well Slytherin would rather Cedric, a Hufflepuff, win rather than Harry Potter. But who really cares what they think?" I snorted.

"And well, you've seen the other Gryffindors for yourself," Hermione added. Harry and I rolled our eyes.

"The only thing you can really do," I said, "is be prepared for anything, which we've already been doing for the past two months."

Hermione looked at us in confusion, and we finally explained what our 'self-study' periods consisted off. Needless to say, Hermione was very impressed, and insisted on joining us.

"You'd need a free period," I pointed out. Hermione grimaced and pondered the issue. Very slowly, she seemed to come to a decision.

"I could give up Arithmacy and make it a self-study period," she suggested softly.

Harry and I looked at her, amazed. We knew how much her classes meant to her. "Actually Hermione," I said, "just because you drop the class this year, you can still study the material and pick it back up next year. Or you could drop it permanently, and still take the OWLs and NEWTs for it."

Hermione smiled. "I think I'll just drop it for the year, and pick it back up next year."

"Are you sure, Mione?" Harry asked. She rolled her eyes lightly.

"Anything for a friend, Harry." She said, mirroring my words to Hagrid.

We talked late into the night, but eventually, I showed them each to two identical rooms to my own, and they settled in for the night. I had been lying in bed, thinking, when I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. Waving my wand, my door swung open slowly, and Harry stood there in basketball shorts, rubbing his tired eyes. Silently, I held open my comforters.

He had closed the door behind him, and climbed in. We settled into the same position as the night before, and were asleep instantly.

The next morning, I once again woke to the feeling of the warm sun on my back, my face buried in Harry's neck, inhaling his faint scent of caramel and something naturally _Harry_. I was barely fully awake, when I heard my bedroom door open.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise. She blushed as I blearily lifted my head up. She tried to step out, but I motioned for her to come in. She did, looking fairly embarrassed, but sat in the same seat she had the night before. I saw that she was already showered and dressed in clothes I had bought her.

Today, she wore dark blue skinny jeans, and turquoise v-neck t-shirt, along with matching trainers. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she looked rather relaxed. Very carefully, I unraveled myself from Harry's arms, and slid out of bed. I saw Hermione blush even darker when she saw that I only wore black satin shorts and a sports bra.

"Morning Mione," I whispered through a yawn.

"Morning," she mumbled. Her cheeks pinked as she opened her mouth to say something. "Are you two –?"

"No, you'd be the first to know if we were." I promised. Nodding, Hermione curled up with a book I hadn't noticed her carrying, it seemed to be on curses.

I went into my bathroom and went through my usual routine, before emerging thirty minutes later in my towel. Hermione glanced up, but was too absorbed in her book to really take in my state of dress. Harry was still sound asleep, and I let him be, knowing he needed all the rest he could get. I entered my huge closet and decided to go with something casual, like Hermione. I decided on baggy, black sweatpants that clung to my ankles, along with a long-sleeve v-neck shirt that matched my eyes, and matching trainers. I dressed, dried my hair, and pulled it up in a messy bun similar to Hermione's before emerging from the closet.

"You look cute," Hermione said absently, turning the page.

I raised an eyebrow. "In sweats?" I asked.

She shrugged. "You make everything look attractive." She said. I couldn't really argue with her there, so I settled in Harry's spot on the windowsill and summoned my own book on Auror spells. Hermione and I read for about two hours until Harry finally stirred.

He opened his eyes, which were wide and innocent with their bright emerald color. He looked incredibly cute as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I was glad to have gotten rid of his glasses, and had his eyes fixed, it was much more convenient. He saw me first and smiled, "Morning Gia,"

I smiled back. "Morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty."

He blushed, and his head snapped over to Hermione as she barely stifled a snort. "Morning Mione," he said. She returned his sentiment, and went back to her book. I did the same, vaguely aware of Harry going to take a shower, though this time he took a clean outfit into the bathroom with him. I figured it was because Hermione was in the room.

He emerged fully dressed, towel drying his wild curls. He was wearing dark blue jeans like Hermione, and a plain black v-neck shirt, along with black trainers. He looked at both of us, emerged in our books, and I saw him smile fondly. "Are you two hungry?" I asked.

They both nodded, but Harry hesitated. "Don't worry," I said, "we're not going down to the Great Hall. I figured you wouldn't want everyone staring and whispering."

"Thanks," Harry said.

"Prim!" I called. Immediately, an obviously well-taken care of house-elf appeared, and curtsied to me with a huge smile. She was wearing an adorable silver and amber dress with my family's crest on it.

"Mistress Gia has called Prim?" She squeaked happily.

I smiled fondly at her, aware that Harry and Hermione were watching with raised eyebrows. "Yes, I did. Do you mind going down to the kitchens, and bringing us up some breakfast, please?"

Prim nodded. "Thanks, we'll be in the common room." And with that, Prim popped away.

I glanced at Hermione to gauge her reaction but she already had her nose buried in her book. Finding that I couldn't focus now that Harry was awake, I folded down the page I was on and closed the book.

"So what are we doing today, it being Sunday and all?" Harry asked, sitting on the swinging bench that hung from my ceiling. He absently pushed back and forth as he lounged in it.

I pondered for a second. "Well, I suppose we could go flying. I haven't been since before term started, and it's always been able to let me clear my head."

Harry's face lit up. "Of course, me too! But –" he looked at Hermione, "Hermione doesn't fly."

"We could set her up in the stands with warming charms, she's so absorbed in that book I doubt she'll care." I suggested. We both looked at Hermione, who was indeed, still too involved with her book to notice that we were talking about her. Stifling chuckles, I stood up and stretched.

"It's chilly outside, but I'd rather not put on robes, warming charms will do just fine." I said. Harry shrugged.

"What kind of broom have you got?" he asked.

"A Firebolt," I said, "Sirius got you one as well, right?"

Harry nodded, a wistful smile on his face. "It's in my dorm, though." He said.

I waved my hand dismissively. "We can get it on the way down."

After that, Prim popped into my room with breakfast, having sensed that we weren't in my common room. We ate breakfast in amicable silence, and when we finished, we coaxed Hermione out of her book long enough to make the journey to the pitch. Only taking our wands and a book in Hermione's case, we left the East Tower, cautious as ever, and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione and I waited outside in the corridor while Harry dipped inside quickly to get his broom. He was in and out within a minute, and we walked down to the pitch in silence.

We headed out onto the grounds, and on the pitch, we looked up and watched the sun in the sky. There was a slight breeze and it was chilly, but there were hardly any clouds, almost perfect weather conditions for flying. As Harry applied warming charms to himself, I walked Hermione up to the stands and placed them on her, as well as cushioning charms on the seats so that she could get comfortable. After saying murmured thanks, I headed back down onto the pitch.

"We can fly for awhile," I said, "at least until it gets dark or whatever."

"Sounds good, you ready?" he asked. I nodded and swung a leg over my broom, pushing off the ground as hard as possible, I instantly soared straight up. The wind rushed around me and I was glad I hadn't worn a robe, this felt perfect. I thought about waiting for Harry to fly around together, but I already felt so light and free that I couldn't contain a joyous whoop. I dove straight down in a corkscrew spin, only pulling up five feet from the ground.

The familiar adrenaline rush and excitement and pure _freedom_ all came flooding back. I zipped around the pitch, executing a serious of dives, spins, loops, and even several heart-pounding Wronski Feints. I looked around and saw Harry doing pretty much the same, and I could see how much lighter he seemed flying than just earlier or even last night. We occasionally spoke as we flew but mostly enjoyed companionable silence. At some point, we simply hovered and watched the peaceful scenery that was Hogwarts. The magic in the air was so wonderful, I never wanted to leave.

Harry and I looked over to make sure Hermione was ok every once in a while. And it was during one of these checkups, that we saw Viktor walking up the stands, his broom slung over one shoulder, where he stopped and started talking to Hermione. I flew over to where Harry simply hovered in the air. "What do you think they're talking about?" I asked, pulling up beside him.

He shrugged. "Beats me,"

We watched as Hermione looked up from her book, and responded to something Viktor said. Even with my advanced hearing, they were too far away and the wind was blowing too much for me to be able to hear them. At one point, we saw Viktor ask Hermione something, causing her to look over at Harry and me, and she hesitated before answering. Whatever she said seemed to make Viktor deflate slightly before he looked over at me.

He smiled and waved, which I returned. "Hey Viktor, come on and fly with us!" I called. I heard Harry just barely stifle a groan and looked over my shoulder at him. I smirked at him, and raised my eyebrows. "You're not scared of a little competition, are you Harry?" I teased.

He gave me an odd look. "Do _you_ think Viktor is competition for me?" he asked.

I heard something different in his voice, and I knew that we weren't talking about Quidditch. However, before I could answer, Viktor flew over to us and gave me a sort of one-armed hug. Over his shoulder, I saw Harry watching us, something in his eyes.

"Hello Gia," Viktor said, "and Harry." He added. Harry grunted, and with that, we took off flying again.

Immediately, I could see why Viktor was a professional Quidditch player, but Harry was almost as good and him, and this of course, caused the two to try an outdo each other. Of course, they didn't come out and say it, but the sudden dives and moves they did made it rather obvious. I sighed.

Boys…


	9. Put To The TestAnd Failing

_Previous Chapter:_

"_Hello Gia," Viktor said, "and Harry." He added. Harry grunted, and with that, we took off flying again._

_Immediately, I could see why Viktor was a professional Quidditch player, but Harry was almost as good and him, and this of course, caused the two to try an outdo each other. Of course, they didn't come out and say it, but the sudden dives and moves they did made it rather obvious. I sighed. Boys…_

**Chapter Nine**

"Oi," I called after we had been out there for two hours. "Let's make this interesting," I said.

Both Harry and Viktor raised eyebrows. "How?" they asked in unison, shooting each other annoyed looks.

I ignored this. "Let's release a snitch, and see who can catch it first." I suggested. I saw that both of them were immediately interested in another way to show off. Oh Merlin, what did I get myself into?

"Hermione!" Harry called, cupping his hands around his mouth.

She looked up at us, obviously annoyed at being interrupted again. "Can you get us a snitch from the changing rooms?" I asked. Giving a very dramatic sigh, Hermione waved her wand, and suddenly, a snitch was zooming out of the changing rooms below us.

"Thanks," I snorted. We let it get a head start, before all three of us took off looking for it. Being not completely human, I had an unfair advantage over both Harry and Viktor, but that didn't stop me from using it and catching the snitch within two minutes. This left the guys openmouthed and shocked.

"Surely you boys can do better than that?" I teased, grinning at them.

Determined to win, the boys insisted and we played for over an hour, each time ending with me catching the snitch within three or four minutes. I could tell that both Harry and Viktor were highly impressed, and also very annoyed. But in my opinion, if neither of them won, then neither of them had some stupid claim or bragging right over the other, especially when they were being so competitive.

"Damn Gia, if you keep that up, the team will demand that you replace me as Seeker." Harry grumbled jokingly. I snorted.

"Oh please, I'm a _much_ better Chaser than I am a Seeker." I said. Harry gained a dazed, hungry look in his eyes.

"_Please_ join the team next year when the season starts back up." He begged.

I froze. Until he had mentioned it just then, I hadn't even thought about if I was going to return next year for fifth year. Honestly, when I had enrolled, I had considered it a one-time experience before I went back to my old life of self-learning. Looking at Harry, and even Hermione in the distance behind him, I could easily see myself staying, but I needed to think on it more so I just smiled and shrugged vaguely.

"Vood you ever consider going pro?" Viktor asked. "I vood talk to some recruiters for you…"

I smiled at him brightly. "I'm way too young to go pro Viktor, but I'll think about it when I graduate." I decided. I could imagine myself going pro. I could be the best Quidditch player in history, and it would be a dream come true to make it on the Holyhead Harpies…

"Vill you get back to me, then?" Viktor asked.

With a start, I realized that he was implying more than he was asking. He was asking if we'd be keeping in touch until then. I glanced at Harry quickly; he seemed to understand as well. "Of course, Viktor." I said. I felt an unpleasant tightening in my chest at the hurt that briefly flitted across Harry's face before he hid it. After that, Viktor had begged off flying more, stating that he had to return to the ship. He gave me another one-armed hug, and flew off to the edge of the lake, where he disappeared into the Durmstrang ship.

After that, all three of us headed back up to my room where Harry and I took showers to get rid of the sweat and such. Finished washing up, we lounged around in my room again. Hermione had settled back in the furry hammock, Harry had settled onto the windowsill, and I sat lazily on the padded, swinging bench, and swung cozily.

"Have either of you wondered," Hermione began, breaking the silence, "about this whole Goblet business?" Harry snorted.

"Every minute since it happened," he said. Hermione shook her head.

"No, I mean have you wondered who actually put your name in the Goblet. We know that V-Voldemort is behind it all, but who's working for him inside the school?" she asked.

I nodded slowly. "Hermione's right, as usual," I said. "A student couldn't have fooled the Goblet or Dumbledore for that matter. I mean, look what happened to the Twins."

"But couldn't a seventh year just have crossed the Age Line, but put my name on the parchment instead of theirs?" Harry asked. Hermione and I looked at each other.

"No clue," I said.

"Same, maybe there's a spell that makes sure you can only enter yourself," she suggested. "You know, so that you can't enter a friend or enemy as a prank or something."

"That would make loads of sense," I said, "so let's assume you can only enter yourself _if_ you're a student. Then that leaves us with whom, the professors?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I suppose, but going with that theory, does the spell include students or the Headmasters from the other schools?"

I looked at her knowingly. "You think it was Karkaroff, don't you?" Both she and Harry looked startled.

"How do you –"

"It's that slightly creepy, uneasy feeling he gives off, isn't it?" Harry asked. Hermione and I nodded.

"But remember your first year," I said. "How you all suspected Snape, and it was really Quirrell. We can't jump to conclusions this time."

Hermione nodded firmly. "Gia's right. There's too much at stake this time, much more than back when we were in first year."

"We'll just have to keep our eyes open then. At this point, everyone's a suspect in my eyes." I said seriously.

"Harry," Hermione said, "You know what you've got to do now, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Survive?" I snorted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, that too, but you've got to send a letter to Sirius. He'll want to know." Harry looked reluctant.

"You know Hermione's right, Harry. Sirius told you himself that he wanted you to keep him posted on everything that's happening here. We've been through this before, remember?" I said.

Harry sighed. "Fine, I'll write it now."

I summoned some parchment, a quill, and some ink and levitated it over to Harry, too lazy to get up. He stared at the parchment for a moment before writing something. As he wrote, I saw my owl Ario appear at the window. Waving my wand, the window opened and he flew to me first, hooting contently as I stroked his feathers.

"How's my beautiful little friend doing?" I asked, cooing to him. "Are you watching out for Hedwig?" I asked, referring to Harry's owl. Ario hooted a clear affirmative, and then flew over to Harry in time to take his letter. He bumped his head gently to Harry's cheek before taking off out the window again.

"Harry…" Hermione hesitated. "You and Ron –"

"Just drop it, Hermione. As long as he thinks I entered –"

"Oh Merlin," I exclaimed, annoyed. Both of them stared at me. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't _what_ obvious?" Harry asked.

"Ron's jealous," Hermione supplied. I nodded.

Harry looked from Hermione to me, incredulously.

"Jealous of _what_?" Harry asked.

"Look," said Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously. "I know you don't ask for it... But—well—you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous—he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many..."

"Great," said Harry bitterly. "Really great. Tell him I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him he's welcome to it... People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go..."

"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said loudly. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or—"

"Harry, that's not funny!" I growled. "That's not funny, at all, so don't talk like that." Harry's face softened.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't funny…" he said. I nodded.

We settled back into silence for another ten minutes before I groaned dramatically, causing Harry and Hermione to look at me with amused expressions. "What? I'm _bored…_" Then I sat up quickly, a large evil smile blooming on my face.

"Oh Merlin…" Hermione groaned.

"I know what'll cheer all three of us up!" I said.

"I'll probably regret asking this, but what is it?" Hermione asked.

"Let's prank Malfoy." I said happily. Immediately, Harry's face brightened considerably and even Hermione looked interested.

"Did you have anything in mind?" Harry asked.

"Well…" I drawled seriously, "actually I do."

"Well don't keep us in suspense." Harry prompted.

"Alright, I was thinking of four specific spells to use on him." I began. "One: to make anything he eats or drinks taste like vinegar," Harry and Hermione grimaced, "Two: to replace his teeth with dentures," they snorted, "Three: to make him produce excessive…excrement," their faces turned slightly green but they were laughing, "and finally, four: one that conjures ants."

"So how is this going to play out?" Hermione asked.

"I figure that if I cast the first two, he'll eat or drink something and spit it out because of the bad taste, also causing him to spit out his dentures. Then, I'll cast the last one, making ants crawl on him, and since he'll be freaking out, he definitely won't be able to hold in his…bowel movements, causing him to…shit himself in the Great Hall."

Harry and Hermione shared a look, before bursting into side-splitting laughter. I grinned smugly. Yes, I was brilliant.

Harry braved the Great Hall that night for dinner solely for the purpose of watching me humiliate Malfoy, and it worked _perfectly_. It had been a bit harder to cast the spells from across the Hall, but I made it work and soon we all had a show. Unfortunately for Malfoy, he had begun his meal by taking a huge gulp of pumpkin juice. As expected, he spewed it out, conveniently all over Pansy Parkinson, who ran screaming from the Hall. That had been a plus.

In the process, he had indeed spat out his teeth-turned-dentures, and had been rendered toothless, which caused an even louder bout of laughter from the entire Great Hall, which was now watching the spectacle. And finally, Malfoy started wiggling oddly, and looked down to see hundreds of ants crawling all over his lower half.

He shrieked like a girl, and began running and jumping about, trying to brush them off. While he did that, I cast the last spell and we all heard a distinct noise, and saw Malfoy's face turn as red as a Weasley's. He ran from the Hall, allowing us to see a small stain begin on the bum of his slacks. That had been the nail in his coffin, and it had taken a whole fifteen minutes for the laughter to stop shaking the Hall.

Word had spread down the Gryffindor Table that it had been me who had pranked Malfoy, not the twins, and I had been slapping fives with Gryffindors all the way up to their Tower. However, after they had all gone to bed, Harry and Hermione returned with me to the East Tower to sleep in the rooms I had set aside for them. Once again, in the middle of the night, Harry knocked on my door, and I allowed him to slip into bed. We fell asleep cuddled together as usual.

Things did not return to normal when we returned to lessons, something that Harry had hoped for. Though I had already told him, Harry saw for himself that the whole school did, indeed, believe that he had entered himself in the Tournament. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they were not impressed.

The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of us. One Herbology lesson was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the Puffs felt that Harry had stolen their champion's glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch.

Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, with whom Harry normally got on very well, did not talk to him even though they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray—though they did laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing Bulbs wriggled free from Harry's grip and smacked him hard in the face. To get back at them, I had waited until Professor Sprout wasn't looking, and then levitated their Bouncing Bulbs rapidly towards their faces, causing them to the same treatment Harry had gotten.

Ron wasn't talking to Harry either. Hermione had tried to sit between them, making very forced conversation, but though both answered her normally, they avoided making eye contact with each other, and I eventually forced her to simply stop. If those two were going to act like children, then let them.

I noticed that even Professor Sprout seemed distant with Harry—but then, she was Head of Hufflepuff House. Normally, we would have been looking forward to seeing Hagrid under normal circumstances but Care of Magical Creatures meant seeing the Slytherins too—the first time we would come face-to-face with them since Harry becoming champion.

Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place. "Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Harry. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer... Half the Triwizard champions have died... How long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

Harry had clenched his fist tightly and I practically heard his teeth grinding together, Hermione looked as though she'd like nothing more than to deck Malfoy again, but they wanted to behave for Hagrid. I was fond of Hagrid, but Malfoy was a pain in the ass. "Hey Malfoy," I said after he'd insulted Harry, "How long did it take you to get those stains out of your pants?"

Malfoy's face had gone terribly red and his mouth snapped shut, and stayed that way for a while. Meanwhile, all of the Gryffindors, including Harry and Hermione, had fallen into gales of laughter at the Slytherin's expense. We had all settled down by the time Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt. To our horror, Hagrid proceeded to explain that the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk.

The only good thing about this plan was that it distracted Malfoy completely.

"Take this thing for a walk?" he repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Err—yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Harry—you come here an' help me with this big one..."

Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Harry away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, and then turned to Harry but I remained close enough that I could hear, having the added advantage of my lineage.

"So—yer competin', Harry, in the tournament. School champion." Hagrid said seriously.

"One of the champions," Harry corrected him.

"No idea who put yeh in fer it, Harry?"

"You believe I didn't do it, then?" said Harry, and I heard the gratitude and relief in his voice. I knew how much Hagrid's opinion meant to him.

"Course I do," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh—an' Dumbledore believes yer, an'all."

"Wish I knew who did do it," said Harry bitterly. The pair of them looked out over the lawn and I turned back to my skrewt. I had somehow managed to intimidate it into behaving. The class certainly didn't have as much success as me with their own skrewts.

The skrewts were now over three feet long, and extremely powerful. No longer shell-less and colorless, they had developed a kind of thick, grayish, shiny armor. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs—but still without recognizable heads or eyes. They had become immensely strong and very hard to control.

"Look like they're havin' fun, don' they?" Hagrid said happily. I assumed he was talking about the skrewts, because our classmates certainly weren't; every now and then, with an alarming bang, one of the skrewts' ends would explode, causing it to shoot forward several yards, and more than one person was being dragged along on their stomach, trying desperately to get back on their feet.

"Ah, I don' know, Harry," Hagrid sighed suddenly, looking back down at him with a worried expression on his face. "School champion... Everythin' seems ter happen ter you, doesn' it?"

Harry didn't answer. Yes, everything did seem to happen to him... That was more or less what Hermione and I had said as we had relaxed in my, and that was the reason, according to us, that Ron was no longer talking to him. Ron was an utter idiot…

However, Harry wasn't the only one having a horrible time during those days. I was too. The full moon was approaching in another week and a half, and though I wasn't a werewolf, I was still affected by it. I didn't transform or anything, but around and on the full moon, I became irritable, snappish, and rather cruel. Also, at that time, my four canine teeth became even more pronounced than they already were. As of now, they weren't too noticeable, but the closer I got to the full moon, the longer and sharper they would become.

In addition to my fangs, my already amber eyes gained a sort of glow about them that was both intriguing and creepy, I though it looked cool, but not everyone shared my opinion. My senses were at their peak, as well as my reflexes and such. I had been able to hide it all enough the first two months of school, but what with the tournament drama, I had nearly forgotten.

But I felt it now, stirring in my blood. That was also a huge part of why I had decided to self-tutor myself and why I didn't know if I was going to stay for another year at Hogwarts. I had noticed that I changed a bit more every year during full moons. I never physically transform, but I feel more wolfish every time the older I get.

It was during the week before the full moon, which was on November 18th that year, when I was truly put to the test with my self-control. I had certainly been snappish for the past week and a half, but I had tried not to take it out on Harry and Hermione, who were both already stressed enough.

Double Potions had been filled with almost tangible tension since Harry had become a champion. Only fear of me from the Slytherins, and respect and attention to me from Snape kept them from truly torturing Harry as much as they probably wanted to. On more than one occasion, I had had to deflect a stray potions ingredient that had somehow been making its way toward Harry's potions. It was during that week, that many Slytherins' cauldrons exploded. No one was happy…

It was also during Double Potions that week that Harry, Hermione and I had arrived outside of Snape's classroom, to see the Slytherins already there, lined up against the wall. Looking at them, we saw that each and every one of them was wearing a badge attached to their robes. They all bore the same message in luminous red letters: _**SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY: THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION**_!

My left eye twitched.

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said loudly, as we approached. "And this isn't all they do—look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green: _**POTTER STINKS!**_ The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message _**POTTER STINKS**_ was shining brightly all around us.

I gripped my wand tightly, and was just barely restraining myself from ripping Malfoy's head off. "Oh ha, very funny." Hermione snapped at Pug-Face Pansy Parkinson and her group of friends that were laughing particularly hard. "Real witty,"

Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either, and I dearly wanted to hex him as well.

"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up." I felt something inside of me snap.

"That's it, Malfoy!" I growled. All eyes snapped fearfully to me, and Malfoy paled at the sight of my amber eyes glowing and pulsing rapidly as well as fangs, which I had bared.

Within a second of snapping, I had waved my wand, putting up a privacy ward only strong enough to keep Snape out for a few minutes. Plenty of time to kill Malfoy…

All of this happened in a fraction of a second, and too pissed off to even think of a spell to use on the blonde ponce, I snarled and leapt at him, knocking him onto his back, and bringing us both down. There was an instant uproar from the Slytherins and cheering from the Gryffindors as I landed on Malfoy and began slapping the idiot, throwing in a few punches as well. I growled in his face, watching satisfied as it lost all color, and was about to rip out his throat when I felt arms go around my waist and pull me off of him.

"Get off of me, and let me kill that fucking ferret!" I fumed, fighting to get free. I didn't even know who had grabbed me, I was too focused on taking in Malfoy's utter terror. I stopped struggling abruptly, suddenly utterly calm, and I peered down at Malfoy, whose face was stinging red, and his lip was busted, along with his hair being a mess.

"Malfoy," I said calmly, though I saw that my tone caused shivers to go down the spines of every person present, Lions and Snakes alike. "If I ever hear you call Hermione a Mudblood again, I will _kill_ you. Do you understand?" he silently stared at me in horror. I snarled. "Do you _understand_?" I snapped. He nodded and scrambled back until he hit the wall.

I turned my head and saw that it was actually two people, not one holding me back. To my surprise, it was both Harry and Ron, momentarily working together so that I wouldn't kill Malfoy. "I'm calm now, let me go." I said.

Immediately, Ron let go and went back to standing with Dean and Seamus, Harry lingered for a split second before letting go as well. I felt my ward being picked at and knew I only had a minute or two before Snape broke through, probably livid. I rapidly cast two spells that were tied directly to those stupid badges. One that made sure that anyone who was wearing one wouldn't be able to take them off until after the first task was over, even if they changed their clothes, the badge would appear on their as well. And another spell that caused the badge itself to change, now instead of the previous message, they all said: _**LONG LIVE POTTER: OUR CHAMPION!**_

Seeing the change, the Gryffindors burst into laughter while the Slytherins growled and tried to change them back or take them off, and finding that they could do neither. I smirked and motioned for the others to look calm. They complied, and we were all neatly lined up as Snape stormed around the corner, predictably livid.

"When I find out who –" he stopped at the sight of Malfoy on the floor, still pale and looking terrified, as though he had come face to face with a dementor. I suppressed a smirk.

"Mr. Malfoy, please conduct yourself with some measure of decorum and remove yourself from the floor." Snape said evenly. He eyes zeroed in on the buttons, and he shot Harry a look. "And what is the meaning of these ridiculous buttons?" he snapped.

I cleared my throat. "Professor, if I may…" I said. He inclined his heads. "Well, it seems as though the Slytherins decided that they'd support Harry rather than a Hufflepuff, and I can't say I object, all things considering…"

Playing to their hate of anything Hufflepuff or weak, Professor Snape looked pained to let it go, but as he looked at the badges again, I bared my fangs at the Slytherins in a warning. _Agree or die…_

"G-Grey's right, Professor," Pansy spoke up suddenly, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "Rather Potter than a Puff," she said.

Rolling his eyes, Professor Snape looked as though he decided he really didn't care either way, as long as he didn't have to deal with it. "Just get into the classroom!" he snapped.

We filed into the classroom, and as it had been for the past two weeks, Harry, Hermione, and I made a group of three instead of pairs. Being his favorite student, Snape had allowed this without a word. Ron once again sat with Dean and Seamus.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at us all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..." Judging from the direction of his gaze, he had already chosen who to poison.

As Snape began to explain some of the properties our antidotes should have, not including myself seeing as I had already completed enough to have graded, some sent to Madam Pomfrey, and keep some for my own private stash, my eyes clouded over.


	10. The Problem With Secrets

_Previous Chapter:_

_"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at us all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..." Judging from the direction of his gaze, he had already chosen who to poison._

_As Snape began to explain some of the properties our antidotes should have, not including myself seeing as I had already completed enough to have graded, some sent to Madam Pomfrey, and keep some for my own private stash, my eyes clouded over._

**Chapter Ten**

_I was in the same place, that place being the Potions classroom, and everything looked exactly the same so I could only assume this would happen during this class period. There was a knock on the door. It was Collin Creevey, and he edged into the classroom and up to Professor Snape's desk._

"_Yes?" Snape asked curtly._

"_Please sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."_

_Professor Snape looked down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face. "Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."_

_Colin went pink. "Sir—sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go; I think they want to take photographs..."_

_Knowing what Ron had said about a photo shoot the other day, I knew Harry would have given anything he owned to have stopped Colin saying those last few words. I saw him chance half a glance at Ron, but Ron was staring determinedly at the ceiling. _

_"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."_

_"Please, sir—he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Cohn. "All the champions..."_

_"Very well!" said Snape. "Potter—take your bag and get out of my sight!"_

The scene faded and though I was looking at much the same thing, it had lost its dreamlike quality. I looked over at Harry who was dutifully staring down at his cauldron and walked silently up to Professor Snape's desk. He looked up at me, and upon seeing which of his students I was, his scowl faded slightly.

"Yes, Ms. Grey?" he asked.

"Professor, could I please go to the Hospital Wing, I'm not feeling very well." I said in a small voice.

He nodded curtly. "Seeing as you've finished this assignment, I don't see why not. Take your things in case you don't return in time." He instructed.

I nodded in thanks and returned to Harry, Hermione, and my station, and packed up my things. I saw their questioning looks but gave them a shrug that said I'd tell them later. I was walking out of the classroom just as Collin Creevey was coming in. Perfect timing…

I didn't stay to watch the scene play out again, but I heard it what with my hearing being enhanced, and I waited a little ways down the corridor until Harry and Collin exited the classroom.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Harry had closed the dungeon door behind him. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"

"Yeah, really amazing," said Harry heavily.

"Harry," I called. He and Collin looked up and I waited for them to catch up.

"What's wrong? I thought you were going to the Hospital Wing?" Harry asked, genuine concern in his voice.

I smirked. "I only needed an excuse to come with you, obviously." I drawled, as we set off walking again, Collin being a little ways ahead of us.

Harry smiled gratefully, and then froze, looking at me funny. "How did you know Collin was coming to get me from class?" he asked.

This time I froze and mentally cursed. _Shit_, how could I not have thought that through? My mind raced with lies and cover-ups, but I didn't want to lie to Harry so I just shrugged. "It's just another one of my many secrets, Harry…" I said mysteriously.

I had meant it as a joke, but I sighed when I saw the hurt and betrayal cross Harry's face. I grabbed his hand for a second. "Harry, I'm sorry, it's just… I'm not ready for anyone to know yet, alright? But I promise, when I'm ready, you'll be the first to know, ok?"

"What do they want photos for, Colin?" Harry said to Collin, ignoring me.

I felt a white-hot flash of pure hurt shoot through my chest at that moment. I dropped Harry's hand, and remained quiet for the rest of the walk as the two boys talked.

"The Daily Prophet, I think!"

"Great," said Harry dully. "Exactly what I need… more publicity."

"Good luck!" Collin said when we had reached the right room. "Oh, and don't worry Gia, I promise I won't tell anybody about you lying to Snape." I summoned a convincing grin for the hyper, younger boy and ruffled his hair affectionately. He really was a good kid.

He blushed. "Thanks Collin, I owe you one."

"It's no problem, guys. Have fun!" he called as he disappeared around the corner.

Harry knocked on the door, and we entered together. We entered a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Harry had hopefully never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes. I immediately recognized her though, and I just barely stopped myself from baring my fangs at her.

Viktor was standing moodily in a corner and not talking to anybody, while Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than usual; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.

Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly, and bounded forward. "Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come... Nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment…" He trailed off, looking at me.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" he asked smoothly. I stopped myself from grimacing and shook his hand.

"Gia Aria Grey, Mr. Bagman. I'm simply here as a friend." I said.

Bagman's face lit up, though I wasn't entirely sure why. "Oh no, dear, it's no problem. Of course, you are welcome to stay and join us for the wand weighing ceremony."

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. I could instantly see that Harry was grateful I had forced him to start taking better care of his wand, polishing it and such.

"The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot." Bagman explained.

Deciding I might as well help make Harry more comfortable, even with his hurtful snub in the corridor, I dragged him away from Rita Skeeter and towards the other champions, who turned to me with large smiles. "Fleur, comment vas-tu?" I asked, as Fleur and I exchanged our usual cheek kisses.

"Je suis bien, merci. Comment allez-vous?" she replied honestly.

"Même ici, même si j'ai essayé d'aider Harry à travers tout ce stress tournoi et le théâtre." I say softly, glancing at Harry. Fleur peered at us both.

"Alors, il a dit la vérité? Il n'a pas vraiment entrer lui-même?" she asked. I nodded firmly. She nodded.

Viktor pulled me into his usual one-armed hug, and we spoke in rapid Bulgarian, having much the same sort of conversation as Fleur and I had had. Then I turned to Cedric. Poking him in the stomach, I sigh dramatically. "And here I thought you were staying in shape for the Quidditch season next year. I see you're in danger of getting flabby, Cedric." I teased.

He snorted and yanked one of my red, ringlets. "And you're in danger of never reaching five feet, Gia." I huffed and folded my arms as Fleur and Viktor chuckled lightly, and even Harry cracked a smile.

"You didn't have to go there, Diggory." I mumbled jokingly.

"It's my job to go there, little sis." He said. I smiled up at him and flipped my hair, whipping it in his face, causing him to splutter.

A minute later, the champions were instructed to sit in chairs near the door, and Harry sat down next to Cedric, looking up at the velvet-covered table where four of the five judges were now sitting—Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner, and I kept a close eye on her as she sucked the end of her quill. I leaned against a corner out of the way, and though Dumbledore glanced at me with obvious amusement, he didn't say anything, allowing me to stay.

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

We all looked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw the old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. A large smile bloomed on my face, and I couldn't stop myself from crossing the room to him. He smiled at me and pulled me into a hug as if he were my grandfather, I thought of him as such anyway. "Garrick!" I exclaimed happily as we pulled apart, "How have you been?"

He chuckled. "Oh you know, same as always, scaring the crap out of eleven year olds each year." I snorted.

"Same old…" we looked at the rest of the room, all of whom were staring at us in shocked bemusement, probably at the fact that I was so close to the old wandmaker, or perhaps his use of the word _crap_. Blushing lightly, I said, "Sorry, you can continue…" before stepping off to the side once more.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. As he did, my eyes clouded over again. Great…

_It seemed that I was looking at a Daily Prophet article; the date said it'd be coming out within a few days. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all._

_It had been written by Rita Skeeter, so I wasn't surprised that she had completely mangled Harry's image. "I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now... Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it... I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…" She had written, apparently 'quoting' Harry. She had even gone so far as to say that "Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school." I saw brief glimpses of the torment both of them would face after the article would be published, just as the scene faded…_

It took all of my self-control not to snarl at that tight-lipped, dinosaur when the wand-weighing ceremony once again swam into my vision. I had returned just as Ollivander turned to Cedric. "Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn... Must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches... Ash... Pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition..."

While he talked, I glided silently and unnoticed over to Rita Skeeter, and leaned down so that my mouth was next to her ear. "Can you come with me, Rita? I'd like to discuss something with you for a moment." I said.

Seeing that it was the girl who seemed so close to all of the champions, she followed me directly outside of the door into the corridor, and I smiled at her.

"My, you are a pretty young thing," Rita commented, and I caught the slight envy in her tone. "I'd be surprised if one of those young men hasn't already snatched you up?" she said, phrasing it as a question.

I saw what she was trying to do, dig up dirt on one of the boys, and my smile melted into a sinister grin, and for the second time that year, I purposefully exposed my elongated canine teeth, my amber eyes were frozen and dark. I could tell immediately that Rita was scared out of her damned mind. Good, she should be.

"Listen _Rita_," I said in a frigid voice that seemed to freeze the very corridor we stood in, "if the article you write about this day isn't perfectly _true, relevant, and fair_, I will _personally_ be very upset about it. And when I get upset," I licked my fangs, "well, I'll be obligated to do something about it. Do you understand, Rita?"

She nodded mutely, too frightened to speak, and my face melted back into a bright, happy expression. Somehow, this change terrified her even more, and I stared at her warningly for a second, before we both entered the room again. We returned back inside as Ollivander was making a fountain of wine shoot from the end of Harry's wand.

I vaguely remembered the day I had explained to Harry the importance of proper wand care, and I nearly laughed out loud upon remembering how red he had gotten when I had waggled my eyes suggestively and explained about how to _polish_ his wand. Ollivander handed Harry back his wand, and as an afterthought, turned to me.

"Miss Grey, I know you are not a champion, however, I was wondering if I could perhaps, check your wand as well?" he asked. I knew why it was important to him to check my particular wand.

_Flashback_

_Once again, Ollivander returned from a trip into the isles, only this time, he wasn't carrying an armload of boxes, only one. This particular box looked older than the rest, and it was covered in a thick layer of dust and mold. _

_Setting it gingerly on the counter in front of me, Ollivander hesitated. "This wand, Miss Grey, is one of the first wands my own grandfather made, almost two centuries ago. It is very special, and I have a good feeling that this might be it." He said softly._

_Nodding in understand, I waited patiently as Ollivander carefully peeled off the soggy, dusty box top. Nestled in a bed of dusty black velvet, was a perfectly, deep black wand with stranger silver, swirling designs spiraling up the length of it. The designs were slightly raised, almost like silver vines creeping up the wand, and that faint whispery tingle I felt early came back full force. This was it, I knew it was._

_Taking in another breath, I slowly reached into the box and picked up the wand. Unlike the other wands that all felt awkward and unnatural in my grip, this wand immediately settled, as if it had been specially crafted for my particular hand. As soon as I had a grip on it, my entire body shivered deeply, though the feeling wasn't unpleasant. Simultaneously, the room seemed to get darker, the temperature dropped, and the area around me and the wand seemed to be glowing. A large shower of silver, crackling sparks streamed from my wand, sizzling in the air as if it were coming from fireworks._

_I sighed contently as the glow disappeared and the room returned to normal. Looking over at Ollivander, I couldn't help but snort at his stunned and slightly awed expression. I suppose that had never happened to anyone before. "Well obviously, we have found the right wand for you, Miss Grey." He said._

_I smiled slightly. "Yes, I suppose so. How much for it?"_

_Ollivander shook his head with a wistful sort of smile. "This particular wand is free for you," he began, "all I ask, is that you take very, good care of it."_

_I nodded seriously. "I promise that I will." I said, and I meant it._

_End of Flashback_

I handed over my wand, ignoring everyone's rather surprised and interested expressions. I saw that Dumbledore recognized my wand, perhaps he knew Ollivander's grandfather, and he shot me a long, appraising glance. Ollivander examined my wand lovingly, and then swished it, causing the room to darken and then brighten back up again, before handing it back.

"It's in perfect condition, as you had promised to keep it. I thank you for that Miss Grey," Ollivander said. "Please, do come visit my shop again."

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now—or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end—"

We all got up to leave, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat.

"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"

"Err—yes, let's do those first," said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Harry again, and then she glanced at me, and I grinned largely at her. She looked away rather quickly. "And then perhaps some individual shots." She suggested quickly.

The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl, which I found hilarious. And Viktor, whom I figured would have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group. And of course, I wouldn't allow any of them to be photographed until I fixed them up myself.

Fleur, of course, looked perfect no matter what, so I left her alone, but she looked fairly amused as I fussed over the boys. Standing in front of Viktor, I fixed his deep red cloak, and smoothed his short hair, though he didn't seem to mind in the least. He stared into my eyes the entire time, and I after I finished, I gave him a bright smile, before I moved onto Cedric.

Cedric was outright grinning as I fixed his hair. Honestly, it was almost as bad as Harry's, but whereas Harry's hair was jet black and hopelessly wild and curly, Cedric's was a deep golden brown color and just wind-whipped. I also fixed his yellow and black tie, seeing that it was crooked, and before I finished with him, he gave my hair another tug.

Then I turned on Harry, who grumbled good-naturedly but leaned into my touch as I mussed his hair on purpose, learning that somehow that made it look better. I also straightened his shirt and tie, and when I finished fixing his collar I let my arms trail lightly down his arms and brush his hands. Luckily, at that point, the others had been watching Rita and her photographer pose the others, and the gesture went unnoticed, though Harry gave me a warm, lopsided smile. We were good again.

Of course, the photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, and Rita Skeeter looked as though she was dying to drag Harry to the forefront, but one glance at me dispelled her of those notions. Then, she insisted on separate shots of all the champions. At last we were free to go, and I shot Rita one last warning look before we all left together.

I told the other champions that we'd see them at dinner, and I dragged Harry quickly down to the dungeons, where we arrived two minutes before the bell would ring. "Why did we come here instead of straight to the Great Hall?" Harry asked finally.

"I wanted to get Hermione." I said.

"She could've met us up at the Great Hall." Harry insisted. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Or not. I don't want her walking down here by herself in Slytherin territory with all of them down here, especially with Ron acting like a prat." I said. Finally understanding my logic, we waited a second until the bell signaling the end of the day's lessons rung, and the class streamed out of the Potions room.

Ron looked at us, and I saw the slight longing in his eyes before he continued on his way with Dean and Seamus. Hermione saw us and her eyes lit up, and we even waited for Neville before we all journeyed up to the Great Hall, with Harry and I explaining about where we were.

"You lied to Snape?" Hermione asked, incredulously.

I laughed. "Hey," I said, raising my hands, "I was there for moral support to Harry."

Hermione huffed. "I suppose…"

We ate dinner and then headed back up to the Gryffindor Tower, where Ron rudely informed Harry that he had an owl. It was Ario. And as soon as he saw me, he flew to me and perched carefully on my shoulder, where I stroked his feathers.

"I don't know whether I want to talk to him or hit him…" Harry sighed after Ron had left the room.

Harry and Hermione both went to their dorms, grabbed some more of their more personal items and the three of us went up to the East Tower, cautious as usual and we settled into our usual spots in my room as Harry read Sirius's reply out loud.

_**Harry –**_

_**I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted— though he seems scarily intelligent and capable. Good job not using Hedwig by the way, and this little guy blends in perfectly with the night. Anyway, we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?**_

_**I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose. Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22**__**nd**__** of November as quickly as you can.**_

_**Sirius**_

I knew that the sight of Sirius would cheer Harry up immensely, but I was fairly surprised when he asked Hermione and I to be there with him. He wanted me to meet Sirius. I agreed, and the next two weeks passed fairly easier. The shock of Harry being the fourth champion had somewhat worn off, and I made sure that Harry and Hermione spent all of their free time training so hard that they didn't have time to stress or think about the upcoming first task.

Harry and Hermione were both incredibly magically talented, but while Hermione had a larger repertoire of spells, Harry had more raw magic and reserves. And because of that, I was confused as to why he couldn't master a simple Summoning Spell. One day, we were in the Room of Requirement training, and I was watching Harry get more and more frustrated.

"Alright Harry, stop –"

"No," he growled, "I can do this!"

"Not if you're all angry and shit! Dammit Harry, there's no reason to take that out on me when I'm trying to fucking help!" I snapped. I was still feeling the lingering effects of the full moon and it worried me. They had never lasted beyond three days after the full moon passed. I took a calming breath, aware that Hermione was gazing at me thoughtfully. Oh great...

I walked over to Harry and rubbed his temples lightly with my fingertips. His eyes immediately fluttered shut and I hummed a bit, knowing that my voice calmed him down considerably and when I felt that he was calm, I stopped. "Alright Harry, listen to me." I said. He nodded.

"There are three main parts to doing a spell," I lectured, slipping into teacher-mode. I saw that even Hermione looked interested. "When doing a spell, any spell not just this one, it's all about intent, image, and will. You can't just wave your wand, say some words, and expect something to happen. First, you have to _want_ it to happen. I'll use this spell as an example. You have to want to summon the object. Next, you have to see it in your mind." I explained, grinning at their rapt attention.

"The clearer the image you can pull up in your mind of you summoning the object, the easier it'll happen. And finally, probably the most important step, you have to _will_ it to happen. You can't rely on your magic to do one-hundred percent of the work; you have to help it along." I turned to the pillow Harry had been trying –and failing—to summon for the better part of thirty minutes, and summoned it easily.

"Now, go ahead and try it how I just explained. And for Merlin's sake Harry," I said exasperated, "don't force it, you have to remain calm. Emotions affect a spell more than you might think."

Harry nodded, and stood staring at the mountain of pillows across the room. He took a deep breath, and seemed to be concentrating. "_Accio pillows!"_ Suddenly, one pillow didn't fly towards him, the whole mountain did. Sidestepping it, I watched as Harry was promptly buried beneath them.

Hermione and I had a good laugh at that, but after giving that explanation, Harry seemed to master spells rather quickly. We had taken a break after mastering a few other spells, and I bit my lip before making a decision. I had the room supply a training dummy and stood up. "Alright, I wasn't sure if I should teach this spell to you two, but I figured that it might save your neck in a battle someday." I said. "It's extremely dangerous," both of them looked immediately interested, "and it's _not_ to be used lightly, especially not in a stupid, schoolyard duel with someone…like Malfoy." I said, looking pointedly at Harry.

"Alright fine, we get it. Only use it in a serious situation, but what does it do?" Harry asked. Rolling my eyes, I turned to the dummy and raised my wand, and waved it.

"_Magna Tonitrus!" _I cast. Immediately, a bolt of pure white lightning shot from my wand and hit the dummy in the chest, causing it to explode.

Harry and Hermione were staring, wide-eyed, from the dummy to me. "That spell depends on the intensity of the caster, so even in a serious battle, unless you're aiming to kill, monitor the amount of magic you put behind that." I warned. "That's only a lesser version of a similar spell. The other spell doesn't depend on intensity, it kills the target immediately no matter what, and that's why I won't be teaching you that spell for a while." I said.

Harry and Hermione took turns trying the spell, and at the end of an hour, they had both managed to create a somewhat decent bolt of lightning.

That night, while Harry was taking a shower in his own room in the East Tower, Hermione looked up from her book, looking undecided about something.

"What is it, Mione?" I asked.

"I—" she began, "Are you a werewolf?" she asked suddenly.

I stared at her, shocked, but then realized I should've seen this coming, especially what with the way she'd been watching me lately. If anybody would've figured that out, it would've been Hermione. "Why do you ask that?" I asked, purposefully dodging her question.

Hermione flushed. "I-it's just that, you show similarities with umm, Professor Lupin. Last year, around the full moon he'd be sick and would miss days, and he'd be really withdrawn and such. But with you, around the full moons, you become irritable and snappish. Also," Hermione said, "your eyes seem to glow and pulse around the time of the full moon, and your teeth…" she trailed off.

"You are way too observant for your own good, Mione." I said, grinning. "But no, I'm not a werewolf. Not exactly, anyway…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'not exactly'?" she asked.

"My family, the Grey family, is perhaps one of the oldest pureblood families in the wizarding world, older than even the Founders," I began. Hermione's eyes widened, and she paid rapt attention as I spoke. "I don't really know how, and I suppose I'd just chalk it up to the mystery of magic, but my family is descended from the original werewolves. They were much different back in that time, and didn't transform into the sad, creatures they are today. Back then, it was more like being a wolf Animagus, but they were size of warhorses. They could also transform at will, but around the full moon they were at their most powerful."

I sighed and swung a bit harder on the swinging bench that I lounged on. "Anyway, the power's been diluted over the centuries, what with bringing in new blood, and other magical creatures like vampires and veela –"

"Is that why you're so pretty and athletic?" Hermione interupted. I shrugged.

"I suppose, or it could just be good genes." I grinned cockily. "Like I said, the power's been diluted over the centuries so I can't actually transform but I have wolfish traits, and I become a bit more powerful around this time, as well as the snappish part, and the eyes and teeth thing. I suppose that if I became an Animagus, my form might be a huge wolf, I'm not sure about that though."

"That is so interesting…" Hermione breathed. "And it explains so much –"

"I know, just…please don't tell Harry yet." I pleaded.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Why not?"

I hesitated. "I don't want him to know just yet. Honestly, you wouldn't know either if you hadn't already figured it out. It's nothing personal, I'm just not ready for anyone else to know."

That night, I lied in bed, tracing lazy circles into Harry's back. It had long since become a habit for him to turn up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep or waking up from a nightmare, and spend the night in my room with me. Anyway, that night I was pondering all that had happened to me already since I had started at Hogwarts, and I felt guilty.

The trio, especially Harry, had practically told me all of their secrets and yet, I was still keeping so many from them. Plus, I knew that Harry and I were closer than just friends, and I knew he wanted something more, but I hadn't fully explored that avenue yet. I cared for Harry a great deal, and I didn't want my secrets to get in between us, but I had kept them for so long, I didn't know how to tell him. I hoped I'd figure it out soon…


	11. Revelations & Hogsmeade

_Previous Chapter:_

_That night, I lied in bed, tracing lazy circles into Harry's back. It had long since become a habit for him to turn up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep or waking up from a nightmare, and spend the night in my room with me. Anyway, that night I was pondering all that had happened to me already since I had started at Hogwarts, and I felt guilty._

_The trio, especially Harry, had practically told me all of their secrets and yet, I was still keeping so many from them. Plus, I knew that Harry and I were closer than just friends, and I knew he wanted something more, but I hadn't fully explored that avenue yet. I cared for Harry a great deal, and I didn't want my secrets to get in between us, but I had kept them for so long, I didn't know how to tell him. I hoped I'd figure it out soon…_

**Chapter Eleven**

Ten days after the wand weighing ceremony, Rita Skeeter's article came out. And to my delight, she had followed my threat –err, _instructions_, perfectly. The article equally featured all four champions, with a bit of background on each of them and their schools. She had also gotten a rather impressive photo of the four of them together, and then flattering individual shots.

Over the course of that week, I kept Harry and Hermione busy enough with training, but also made sure to keep Harry out on the pitch having fun to keep his mind off of Ron and the tournament. All of that combined, left Harry too tired to be stressed, and after showers he fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later, and crawl into my bed.

Hermione had found the whole habit to be rather romantic but anytime she walked into my room in the morning, and saw Harry and I cuddled up, she'd blush brilliantly.

Harry didn't seem to mind Hermione walking in on us sleeping, or that she knew that he slept in my bed, and I found that I didn't mind either, seeing as we never did anything besides sleep. We'd never even so much as kiss, though the thought wasn't unappealing…

That was another thing that persisted as the days went by: my growing feelings for Harry, and his obvious feelings for me. I didn't know if I should talk to Hermione about it, and so I didn't.

On the Saturday before the first task, I woke up as usual, to my face buried in Harry's neck, inhaling the faint scent of him and caramel. I could never figure out exactly _why_ Harry smelled like caramel, but I loved it, so I didn't mention it. Occasionally, Harry would be awake before me, rubbing circles into my back, playing with my hair or fingers, and we'd just smile, say good morning to each other, and get on with our day. This was one of those days.

I hummed contently as Harry caressed my smooth back, and I burrowed deeper into his toned arms and neck, inhaling deeply. I heard and felt Harry chuckle slightly and he held me tighter, and we lied like that happily for another thirty minutes, neither of us spoke, until Hermione poked her head in as usual. Seeing that we were already awake, she slipped into the room and sat in her customary seat in the furry black hammock. "Good morning," she said.

"Morning Mione," Harry and I mumbled in unison.

"So when do you guys want to leave?" Hermione asked, relaxing.

I raised an eyebrow. "Leave to go where?" I asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "There was a notice posted in the Gryffindor common room that it's a Hogsmeade weekend. Are we going?" she asked.

I turned my head and looked at Harry. He shrugged. "Sure, but what about Ron?" Harry asked. I grinned.

"W-what about him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, don't you want to go with him?" Harry asked. My grin widened at Hermione's blush.

"I was thinking we could meet him in the Three Broomsticks…"

"No," Harry said flatly. I flicked his nose.

"Don't ruin the morning," I warned both of them. "Just let it go."

Both of them huffed, and I, very reluctantly, rolled out of Harry's arms and stood up, stretching. I heard both of them gasp, and wondered why until I froze. _Shit!_

"Gia, is that a tattoo on your back!?" Hermione asked, her voice curiously high.

I turned around to look at them. Both of them looked shock, but Harry was confused as well. "I haven't seen that yet," he said slowly, "how long have you had it?"

"Had it?" You're too young to _get_ it." Hermione exclaimed.

"Actually, I didn't get it… it sort of _appeared_ one day, and it won't come off." I said, tilting my head so that my hair covered my face and Harry wouldn't see, I mouthed _wolf thing_ to Hermione, quickly.

She looked rather uncomfortable, and let it go, but of course, Harry didn't. "But where did it come from? Do you know? And how come I haven't seen it?" he asked.

Once again, I was put in a position where I didn't want to lie, but I still wasn't ready to tell him. I looked at Hermione, and she was giving me a look that obviously said she thought I should tell him. I felt a rise of sudden panic, and forced it down, taking a calm breath. "As to your last question, I've been using a concealment charm, but I guess it wore off last night. And actually, I do have a slight idea as to where it came from but…"

"Let me guess," Harry said angrily, standing up out of bed, "it's another one of your _secrets_." He spat. I stared at him for a second and sighed, walking around the bed to him.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and rested my head on his bare chest. I vaguely heard Hermione slip out of the room, and I noticed that for once, Harry didn't hold me back. Sighing again, I looked up at Harry's face, and though he was angry, he was still hurt.

"Why don't you trust me?" he asked in a small voice.

My eyes widened incredulously. "Is _that_ why you think I won't tell you?" I asked, astonished. "Of course I trust you, Harry, more than anyone it's just that…" I hesitated. "I don't know how you're going to react."

Harry finally wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tighter to him, something I didn't object to. "Nothing you could possibly tell me would make me..." he sighed, "not care a great deal for you, Gia. You should already know that."

I pulled out of his embrace, and went to look out of one of the huge windows in the room, and stared down at the grounds in the morning sun. Only half aware of what I was saying, I finally explained to Harry everything about my heritage, my shadow powers that I had used to get him to Gringotts…

I heard Hermione slip back into the room right before I told Harry about my shadow powers, and I continued on, and finally told _someone_ the story of my parents, my odd upbringing, and my childhood. I hesitated slightly before taking a deep breath, and explaining to them about my visions and how they worked. When I was done, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest and I felt like I could breathe easier knowing that I wasn't keeping secrets from my best friends anymore.

I risked a glance up at them, and saw that Hermione was looking at me with compassion and love in her eyes and I felt warm inside. I knew that nothing had changed between us, and then I looked at Harry. But he wouldn't look at me, and finally he began to talk, and Hermione and I listened in horror as he told us of _his_ childhood with the Dursleys. At the end of it, I was holding him once again, and felt Hermione join the hug and we were all standing there, feeling the love flow between us.

When we broke apart, I poked Harry sharply in the chest and looked up at him. "Under any circumstances, you are _never_ returning to that horrid fucking place!"

"But I have nowhere else to go!" Harry protested. I flicked his nose.

"Well _obviously_, you're coming to live with me." I explained about the many properties I own and the trips and vacations I go on. "And so of course, you're coming with me this summer. I haven't decided where we'll be going as a vacation but anywhere is better than Privet Drive!" I spat, getting riled up again.

"And I swear by Merlin when I get my hands on those –those, fucking evil, ass -" My rant was promptly cut off as Harry pulled me into a tight hug, murmuring thanks you's. I rubbed his back and when we broke apart, I smiled at both of them.

"Alright, enough drama for the day, I say we get ready to go have some fun in Hogsmeade. Merlin knows we could use some after the month we've had…" I muttered.

And with that, we all showered in our own private bathrooms, and met up forty minutes later in the common room. Hermione was wearing light blue jeans this time, along with a white cashmere cardigan, and white boots. She didn't wear a robe, but instead carried a white jacket over her arm. Harry came out wearing a dark purple, long-sleeved shirt that clung to his torso in just the right way. The purple made his green eyes seem even more vibrant, and I had a feeling he knew that. I was so proud… he also wore black jeans and trainers. I chose to wear a simple outfit for once, and decided on black skinny jeans, a dark forest green shirt, and black boots. My shirt was the same as Hermione's, but while hers was white, mine was green. I also decided to carry a matching jacket.

All dressed, we grabbed our wands and money, and left the East Tower. We chatted happily about random things, laughing and simply enjoying the freedom of being out of the castle and away from constant reminders of the tournament. We wandered the village, and dipped into Honeydukes. In the shop, which was full of dozens of our classmates, there were shelves and shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. There were acid pops, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Blood Pops, Chocolate Frogs, Cockroach Clusters, Fizzing Whizzbees, and hundreds of other amazing and colorful types of candies.

Having a huge sweet tooth it seemed, all three of us brought bags and bags of candy that was sure to last up from now until the summer. Though we had practically cleaned out half of the shop, the clerks seemed only too pleased that we spent so much money and urged us to come back anytime. We left the shop, and I shrunk our bags and slipped them into my bag that I carried. While I was sucking on a Blood Pop, something that made Harry and Hermione a bit green even though they understood, Harry was munching on packs and packs of chocolate frogs, while Hermione was eating large, cream-filled chocolates.

We were cheerfully walking down the road, when we saw Rita Skeeter and her photographer come out of the Three Broomsticks. She caught sight of us, and I could see her hungrily staring at Harry, but I glared at her and wiggled my Blood Pop. Recognizing the candy, Rita's face drained of all color and she and her photographer hurried off in a different direction.

"What was that about?" Harry asked, highly amused. Hermione looked curious as well. I explained about all of the visions I had had so far, and Harry put his arm around my shoulder.

"So I suppose I owe you for saving my reputation?" he asked, "Or at least, not letting it get much worse." I nodded.

"You better believe it Potter." I joked. He grinned and let go off me, and we continued on. At this point, I was on my third Blood Pop, and my full lips were now blood red, something that seemed to attract Harry's gaze, as on more than one occasion, I caught him staring at my lips, obviously wishing he was making contact with them.

Hermione and I had already put on our jackets, when she said, "Let's head to the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!" she huffed, correctly interpreting Harry's sudden silence.

When we entered the pub, it was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people we rarely saw anywhere else. I supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves. It was somewhat hard to navigate through the crowd, but we managed to get to a spare table in the corner.

Harry and I sat down while Hermione went to go get drinks for us. On our way through the pub, we saw Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. I saw that Harry was resisting something, whether it was to talk to Ron or hit him, I didn't know, but either way, I pulled him to the table and forced him to relax.

Hermione returned a moment later, levitating a tray with three mugs of butterbeer on it. She handed each of us one as she sat down, and pulled out a notebook. Peering at it upside down, I saw that it was notes she had been taking on how to improve elf treatment.

"At least it's not spew…" Harry muttered, slightly amused.

It seemed a long time ago that Harry and Ron had sat making up those predictions together, and I'd had to convince Hermione that freeing elves would be cruel to them. So much had happened since then…

Hermione glared at Harry. "You _know_ its S.P.E.W, not spew!" she huffed.

I laughed. "I think it needs a new name anyway, something that can't be made fun of, perhaps." I suggested.

Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while we drank our butterbeer, and watched the people in the pub. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting those ridiculous badges that I had changed to say _**LONG LIVE POTTER, OUR CHAMPION**_ on their cloaks. Apparently, the charm I had used was still in effect, and Harry and I had a good laugh about that.

"Cancel the spells, Gia." Harry sighed.

I huffed. "Why, so that they can torment you again with those stupid badges?"

"Please, just do it. There's no need to make them hate me even more than they already do." Harry reasoned. Sighing dramatically, I cancelled the spells, watching as the message changed from _**LONG LIVE POTTER, OUR CHAMPION **_to_** SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY! **_Noticing the change, Ernie and Hannah gave us odd looks, before turning away.

Right over by the door we saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She was, of course, wearing a Cedric badge, being his girlfriend and all. I looked at Harry, and knew that he would've given anything to be one of these people, sitting around laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about but homework. Then and there, I promised to make sure that Harry would enjoy the various breaks to come, so that he wouldn't feel as though her were missing out on anything. This was our fourth year, and while we still had three years left, that didn't seem like such a long time.

I wondered how the other champions were feeling though. Every time we had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. Fleur looked perfect and composed every time we saw her in the corridors. And, Viktor sat in the library, poring over books. I thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in my chest seemed to tighten even more.

I would be meeting to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night we were meeting at the common room fire—assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately. And though Sirius was only Harry's godfather, and Harry and I weren't dating, I was still somewhat nervous. What if Sirius didn't like me for some reason?

"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Hermione, breaking through my thoughts.

The back of Hagrid's head—thankfully he still looked as clean and put together as I had made him—emerged over the crowd. I wondered why we hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but standing up carefully, we saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask, no surprises there.

Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but we knew better. Moody had told us all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup. Though rather paranoid, it was also very true, especially for someone like Moody who had perhaps, hundreds of enemies who would love to see him dead.

As we watched, we saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. We waved, and then figured that Hagrid probably couldn't see us through the crowd. Moody, however, paused, his magical eye on the corner where we were sitting. He tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub our table.

"All right, you lot?" said Hagrid.

"Hello," said Hermione, smiling back.

"Hey Hagrid, Professor Moody…" I said. Harry repeated my words.

Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S. P. E. W. Notebook, and said in a whisper so low he probably thought that only Harry could hear it, and if it wasn't for my wolfish-ness, he probably would've succeeded, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear yer cloak."

Straightening up, Hagrid said, "Nice ter see yeh all." and departed. Moody followed him.

"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry said, very surprised.

"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to… I don't know whether you should go, Harry..." She looked nervously around and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius."

It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting his meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him he couldn't go—Harry, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted him for.

Harry and I were both rather curious as to why Hagrid wanted him to go meet him so late, and though she was loathed to admit it, Hermione wanted to know why too. We left the Three Broomsticks a little while and enjoyed the rest of the village before heading back up to the school. We relaxed in my room for the rest of the day, besides going down to the Great Hall for lunch and dinner. At half past eleven that evening, Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak over himself while we were in my room.

"Holy shit," I breathed, "That is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" I stared at the spot where he had disappeared, and sniffed slightly. I still smelled the faint scent of caramel, only it came from my right. I reached out and poked Harry in the chest, causing him to yelp, and expose his head only, making it look like a floating head without a body.

"How did you know where I was?" he asked. I smirked and tapped my nose. He rolled his eyes, though he was grinning. "Oh right, bloody wolf nose." He grumbled jokingly. Hermione and I told him goodbye and to be safe and as quick as possible, that we'd wait up for him, and if Sirius called, we'd make him wait.

The good thing about this situation was that we'd been able to send Sirius a letter with Ario, telling him the Floo Address to the East Tower fireplace instead of the Gryffindor Tower. We explained what it was, and he found it even better, seeing how only we three lived there so there was no chance of him being caught in the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione and I had both taken showers and slid into my bed with books. After a few weeks, Hermione had worked up the nerve to wear some of the more… interesting bits of pajamas and underclothes. That night, she wore ice blue satin shorts and a matching bra. She had also become comfortable not wearing shirts around the East Tower like me, but whereas I did it in front of her and Harry without a care, she only did it when Harry wasn't around.

Reading in my bed, my eyes began to cloud over, and on instinct I grabbed Hermione's arm, and somehow dragged her with me into the vision…


	12. Meeting Sirius

_Previous Chapter: _

_Reading in my bed, my eyes began to cloud over, and on instinct I grabbed Hermione's arm, and somehow dragged her with me into the vision…_

**Chapter Twelve**

_The grounds were very dark. And we watched as Harry walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbaton carriage was also lit up; we could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as he knocked on Hagrid's front door._

_"You there, Harry?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around. _

_"Yeah," said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off his head. _

_"What's up?"_

_"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid. _

_There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower, it seemed to be a magically enlarged lily flower, in his buttonhole. Thankfully, he had maintained the appearance I had helped him create and it seemed as though the cologne spell I had used on him was still in effect. I looked over at Hermione, who had a ghostly-haze around her edges, and she looked rather stunned but also excited. She looked at me, and I raised a finger to my lips, even though I knew they couldn't hear or see us. It was rather like being in a Pensieve. _

_"What're you showing me?" Harry said warily. I grinned at that; we all knew Hagrid had a bad habit of attaining _pets_ that he didn't think we very dangerous, but we obviously had a very different view of what qualified as dangerous._

_"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerself covered with that cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it..." _

_"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long..."_

_That reminded me of something. If this vision lasted for a little while, I hoped we wouldn't miss Sirius's floo call._

"_I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock—"_

_But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry hurried to follow and found, to our great surprise, that Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbaton carriage. _

_"Hagrid, what-?"_

_"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands. Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid. _

_"Ah, 'Agrid... It is time?"_

_"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps. Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry, who looked totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. _

_Had Hagrid wanted to show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old time he wanted... She wasn't exactly hard to miss... But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry, because after a while she said playfully, "Where is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"_

_"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y—don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."_

_"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes. And still they walked, Harry was obviously getting more and more irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking his watch every now and then. Hermione and I followed closely as well, but it seemed that no matter how fast or slow we went, we were always right beside them. I even stopped walking completely, and found that I was still being carried through the vision._

_I had grinned at Hermione and sat in the air, as if I were on a couch, and found that not only was I being held up by nothing, but that I was still being carried. Hermione had looked shocked, and I knew that she would eventually try to do some sort of research on my type of visions, but she too sat down and we relaxed, watching the vision play out._

_Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make Harry miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, he was going to have to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime. But then—when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight—we heard something. Men were shouting up ahead... Then came a deafening, earsplitting roar... _

_Hermione and I shared wary glances, and I felt my stomach drop. I knew that sound…_

_Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harry hurried up alongside them—for a split second, it looked as though he was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them—and then his mouth fell open. Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting—torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. _

_There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-hike than the others, which was nearest to them._

_Hermione dug her nails into my arm, her face even paler than it already was due to the vision, and I rather shared her feelings. Hagrid had better not let Harry get hurt out there._

_At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Harry looked up, high above him, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, he couldn't tell which... It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream. _

_"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"_

_"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly. Though absolutely terrified for Harry's safety, I had to agree with Hagrid. The creatures were rather majestic and beautiful._

_"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"_

_We saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand. "Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides—we watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that I could have sworn made the trees behind him quake. _

_The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands. "Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. _

_The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Harry followed, pulling Hermione and I alone._

_The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and we realized who it was: Charlie Weasley. Back when Ron still hung out with us, and they were explaining their first three years, I had been shown photos of the Weasleys, Grangers, and one night a few weeks ago as Harry and I lied in bed, he had shared his photo album with me. I had been so touched that he would share undoubtedly his most prized possession with me._

_"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now—we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet—but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all…"_

_"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. We could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid. _

_"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one—a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray—and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."_

_Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons. _

_"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming—she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"_

_I was thinking the same thing, and though Hermione looked outraged at the blatant cheating, I said, "At least, Harry will be prepared. Would you rather him not cheat and be caught off guard, or cheat and survive?"_

_She didn't look happy, but agreed she'd rather Harry be prepared._

_"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons. _

_"Really romantic date, Hagrid, " said Charlie, shaking his head. _

_"Four..." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do—fight 'em?"_

_And suddenly, Hermione and I were leaning forward on our invisible couch, listening very closely._

_"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why... But I tell you this: I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look." Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and we saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches. _

_Hermione and I simultaneously groaned. "With Harry's luck, how much do you want to bet that he gets the most vicious one of the lot?" I said._

_Hermione rolled her eyes, still looking concerned. "That's a fool's bet, Gia. We both know it…"_

_Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing. _

_"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. Hermione and I snorted, as did Harry in front of us._

_Then he said, "How's Harry?"_

_"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs. _

_"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him..." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him, going on about how mature he was becoming and how his parents would be proud of him facing adversity…"_

_We could see that Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle. Harry sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; he had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius._

"_Harry!" Hermione tried to warn him. _

_But of course, he couldn't hear her. He was so preoccupied in his thoughts, he ran into something very solid. Harry fell backward, his glasses askew, clutching the cloak around him. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"_

_Harry hastily checked that the cloak was covering him and lay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard he had hit. He recognized the goatee... It was Karkaroff. _

_"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry remained still and silent, even Hermione and I sat still and silent as statues. _

_After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were. Very slowly and very carefully, Harry got to his feet and set off again as fast as he could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts. We had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. _

_He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together—they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance... And now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions. _

_By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric. Harry reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; he was hardly out of breath, thanks to the training I had put them through but he didn't dare slow down... He had less than five minutes to get up to the fire. _

Finally, the vision faded and I let go off Hermione. We were both breathing quickly, and shared a look before standing up on my bed, leapt off of it, and raced to the common room. While Hermione slid in her socks to light the fire in the fireplace, I ran to the portrait hole and flung it open, in time to see Harry running down the corridor, his cloak bundled up in his hands. I motioned for him to slow down, and as he passed me, I sent a dozen different spells down the corridor to cover his tracks and confuse anyone if they had been following or tracking him. That reminded me of something I had to do later…

Closing and locking the portrait behind me, and feeling a bit paranoid at that moment, I began placing loads of additional wards around the East Tower. I'd ward the corridor around it tomorrow, but that, in combination with the fact that no one knew of this place and that Hogwarts herself seemed to protect Isavéla's portrait, made sure that we wouldn't be found. The other Gryffindors didn't seem to care where we spent our nights, and I was sure they'd noticed that all of a sudden, Harry and Hermione had stopped sleeping in their Tower, and that I never did.

I walked over to where Harry and Hermione were sitting on beanbags in front of the roaring fire, and waved my wand. All other sources in the room went out, leaving the room dim, lit only by the fire and the moonlight shining through one of the Tower's many windows. Doing something I had wanted to do for a while, I conjured slightly see-through black curtains, and placed them over each window.

I looked at Hermione and Harry, and down at myself before smirking. "I don't think Sirius would want to see two fourteen year olds in their underwear or Harry looking as though he had just run away from _dragons _ through a forest."

Hermione flushed, as did Harry. "How do you –"

"Vision," I said. I summoned a deep, blood red satin robe for myself, and Hermione's favorite ice blue one. And then set about making Harry look as though he hadn't just been in mortal danger. Just as I finished, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. We turned to the fire and Harry and Hermione gasped. Sirius's head was in the fire.

I recognized him immediately from the pictures in Harry's photo album, and I was already use to floo calling so I wasn't too surprised. I was curious though. From the way Harry and Hermione had described him from the previous year, I was expecting someone with a gaunt, hollow face, dirty, matted hair but his hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.

He drank in Harry's appearance, and even through the fire, I could clearly see the loving warmth in his eyes. And then he saw Hermione, and his eyes landed on me, and I saw the old spark that appeared in his eyes in so many of photos in Harry's photo album.

"Hello Hermione," Sirius said happily. "You are looking as beautiful as ever."

Hermione blushed and smiled at Sirius and said hello. Then, Sirius turned to me. "And I have to wonder if this beautiful young lady is the one called Gia?"

I grinned. "It's nice to finally meet you, err, Mr. Black."

Sirius snorted, though his grin widened. "Oh please, call me Sirius. And you wouldn't _believe_ how much Harry rambles on about you –"

"Oi!" Harry yelled, his face as red as my hair.

Hermione was shaking with silent giggles, Sirius was howling with laughter, and I felt my face burning, but I was smiling smugly at a very embarrassed Harry. I fluttered my thick, black eyelashes at Harry and smiled coyly. "You _ramble_ about me, Harry?"

Harry's face somehow reddened even more, and I fell into giggles along with Hermione and Sirius. "Oh haha, very funny…" Harry muttered.

"But truly," Sirius said, "it is nice to finally meet you, Gia. And I want to thank you for getting through my godson's thick skull. I've heard all about how you're helping him get through this…"

I smiled and waved away his thanks. "Anything for a friend…" I said.

"Now, onto serious business," Sirius said. Hermione, Harry, and I snorted, causing Sirius to roll his eyes. "Honestly, now I know why James and Remus were so annoyed back when I kept making jokes about my name… But anyway, how are you really, Harry?"

Hermione and I leaned back in our beanbags as Harry suddenly broke, and began to tell Sirius all about the stress he had been going through this year, his fears and worries, and then the tone of his story changed slightly lighter as he told Sirius about how great Hermione and I had been, helping and training with him all year. But then, he grimaced and looked slightly sad as he spoke about Ron.

"... And now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished desperately.

Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them—that deadened, haunted look. He had let Harry talk himself into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute—I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

I sat forward. "Wait, just a minute." I said.

All three of them looked at me. "Sirius, you're breaking into people's houses to use a bloody fire? Where's err, Lupin?" I asked.

Sirius grimaced. "He said I could stay with him, but Dumbledore sent him off on an errand of some sort."

"I wish…" I trailed off. "I wish that you could just come live here, in the East Tower. No one would have to know…"

Harry looked hopefully from me to Sirius, who looked as though he was considering it. "But, I thought the whole point of you staying away was so that you won't get caught." Hermione said slowly. "That would've been a waste if you were just going to come waltzing into the castle, especially with Ministry officials coming at odd times."

I thought about that. "But what if he stayed in the East Tower? At least he'd be somewhere warm and secure, he'd have a constant supply of food, water, and showers, and he wouldn't have to break into people's house. Plus," I said, "Dumbledore wouldn't turn him in, even though I suggest we not tell anyone, not even Dumbledore."

Hermione was thinking it through, but I could see that Harry had already made up his mind. He wanted Sirius as close as possible, and since I had plenty of room here, I couldn't see a problem. Hermione still looked reluctant though. "Alright Hermione, what if we gave Sirius a disguise anyway? Like change his appearance, and I know a spell that will tie it to the caster, meaning that no one would be able to cancel the disguise besides me."

"What about Moody's eye?" she asked.

"Damn," I muttered. "I don't know if he would be able to see through it. I suppose I could disguise myself to see if he recognized me, and if he does, I'll say I was working on disguises because I…" I thought about it.

"Want to be an Auror one day, and you heard they had to have concealment skills." Sirius supplied. We all stared at him. "James and I were Hit Wizards during the war, got hired right after we graduated. Moody practically designed the training course, so he would know that that's a required skill to be an Auror."

I grinned smugly at Hermione. "And if he doesn't recognize me, we'll know that it's safe for Sirius to come."

Harry's smile was so huge it looked almost painful. "So it's decided then. We'll test Moody's eye as soon as possible, and then you'll be coming to stay in East Tower with us."

Sirius looked rather happy as well, and even Hermione couldn't keep the slight smile off of her face. "This is great and all," Sirius said, "But I have to warn you about Karkaroff."

Harry, Hermione, and I exchanged full looks.

"He was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes…" Harry said. He froze. "Wait, what!?"

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year—to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly.

"Why did they release him?" Hermione asked.

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names... He put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place... He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

Harry and Hermione shot me looks, which Sirius caught. "What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "It's just that I'm sort of friends with Viktor…but he doesn't seem like the type to intentionally hurt somebody. Though I can't say I know him that well…" I said.

Sirius peered at Harry, and I followed his eyes, seeing the brief flash of jealousy in his eyes before it disappeared. Me and Sirius shared loaded looks.

"Okay," said Harry slowly. "But… are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor, he seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry…"

"You and the rest of the world," said Harry, annoyed.

"And reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So... What are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But—why?"

Sirius hesitated. "I've been nearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... And then—did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" I asked.

"Exactly... She disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last... And she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but... It's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So... So Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know... Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

Hermione and I simultaneously slapped his arms. "Don't talk like that!" we hissed.

"Right—these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell—dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon—"

"Yeah, I know, I just saw," said Harry.

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just—"

"Shh!" I said suddenly. Sirius fell silent, staring oddly at me, as if he recognized something as my ears perked up and I sniffed the air. I heard Hermione and Harry's heartbeats speed up slightly as I felt the tension build, but that wasn't the only heartbeat I heard. It was faint, but it was getting closer.

"Is she a werewolf?" Sirius whispered to Hermione.

"Why do you ask?" Hermione whispered back.

"Remus use to do stuff like that when we were sneaking around the school at night…" Sirius said. And then I heard footsteps…

"Sirius, go!" I hissed. "I hear someone coming, hurry! We'll send you a letter!"

Harry and Hermione's eyes were wide with fear, as were Sirius's. He said a quick goodbye, told Harry he loved him, before disappearing. The fire returned to normal and I stood, approaching the portrait with my wand ready. I heard Harry and Hermione move, and looked back to see that they had followed my example. We only had to wait a second before I heard a faint knock.

Someone had found us.


	13. Luna Lovegood

_Previous Chapter:_

_Harry and Hermione's eyes were wide with fear, as were Sirius's. He said a quick goodbye, told Harry he loved him, before disappearing. The fire returned to normal and I stood, approaching the portrait with my wand ready. I heard Harry and Hermione move, and looked back to see that they had followed my example. We only had to wait a second before I heard a faint knock._

_Someone had found us._

**Chapter Thirteen:**

I paused just beside the portrait, and sniffed, before snorting and lowering my wand.

"What are you doing?" Harry hissed.

I rolled my eyes. "It's just Ron." I said. Harry looked apprehensive and annoyed, while Hermione simply looked interested in what he wanted. I opened the portrait hole, and sure enough, there was Ron standing in the corridor, clad in his maroon paisley pajamas. He looked incredibly uncomfortable, as well as frightened; his skin was pale as I stepped aside to let him in.

Hermione immediately looked concerned. "Ron, what happened?" she asked hurriedly.

"Bloody Baron following me…" he breathed, "but for some reason, when I ran to this side of the seventh floor, he stopped and left me alone."

I grinned viciously. "So, my wards do work against ghosts, excellent."

We fell into awkward silence, Ron and Harry refused to look at each other, Hermione stared at Ron, and I huffed, annoyed. "Oh honestly, Ron, why did you come up here in the first place?" I asked.

His face reddened. "I left two of my textbooks here…" he mumbled. We watched as he went up to the room set aside for him, and came back out holding two, worn textbooks under his arms. "I'll just be going then…" he said, and I could hear the slightly sad note in his voice.

Making a split decision, I stepped forward. "Wait for me a minute, I'll go with you." All three of them stared at me in shock and confusion. "I was planning on going for a walk anyway, I'm feeling restless." I smirked. "Besides, you'll need me to protect you against the big bad Bloody Baron."

Hermione giggled, and even Harry cracked a slight smile, though Ron rolled his eyes, only slightly amused but obviously grateful. I ran up to my room and changed out of my pajamas, and into my favorite, baggy black sweatpants, black ballerina slippers, and a plain black sweater. I pulled my hair up in a messy bun and grabbed my wand before going back down to the common room.

"What's up with the black?" Ron asked.

"Helps to blend in with the shadows." I explained. The trio nodded. "Alright," I said to Harry and Hermione, "I'll walk Ron back to the Gryffindor Tower, and then I'm taking a walk about the castle. I'll be back in a little while…" The two nodded and Hermione gave Ron a quick hug before we left, leaving the boy red in the face.

I closed the portrait behind me, and Ron and I walked in silence for a second, sticking to the shadows. "You didn't really come for your books, did you?" I whispered knowingly. Ron shot me a look, before sighing.

"No…" he mumbled.

"You miss hanging out with us, and you wanted to see us, probably apologize, but then you lost your nerve." I said. Ron glared annoyed at me, but nodded. "Well, it's not me you have to apologize to. It's Harry."

"I-I can't…" Ron sighed. "I don't know what to say. Just… don't tell them yet, alright?" I agreed as we stopped outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. I took in Ron's sad face, and gave him my own hug. He might be a thick, prat but he was like a brother to me, and I missed him making us all laugh all the time.

"Just hurry up and apologize, would you? Harry misses you too." I whispered as Ron slipped into the common room. He nodded.

"Goodnight Gia, and thanks…" I bid him a goodnight, and simply wandered around the castle for a while, lost in my thoughts. I had been walking around each floor for about two hours, it was almost two-thirty in the morning, when I was walking along the fifth floor near the Ravenclaw Tower's entrance.

I had been pondering the best way to help Harry against the dragons, when I heard breathing ahead. Judging from the hitching of breath and the slight sniffling, it was someone crying; and smelling a slight flowery smell, I concluded that it was a girl. I peered into the pitch black corridor ahead, not bothering to light my wand as my eyes cut through the dark and the girl's own hair seemed to glow anyway.

I approached her slowly and silently. She was sitting on the cold, stone floor in nothing but a nightgown, no shoes even though the corridor was freezing. She had her knees pulled up to her chin, and her face buried there, her shoulders slightly shaking. I vaguely noted that her wand was tucked behind her ear. Seeing that was sitting at the bottom of the hidden stairs that led up to the Raven's Tower, I assumed that she was a Ravenclaw as well. Her hair was a silvery blonde, reminiscent of Malfoy's, though hers had that slight, ethereal glow about it. Her skin was pale, and she had a small frame.

She looked incredibly vulnerable, and when I kneeled down beside her, her head snapped up. I was immediately blown away by her huge, round silver eyes. They were glossy, and she had tears running down her cheeks; cheeks, that I could see were stinging red and slightly bruised. Someone had hit her, more than once it looked like. Her eyes seemed slightly unfocused, as if she was daydreaming, but I had that look too often and recognized it. She was a Seer, or at least, she had some sort of Seer abilities.

"Hi," I said softly, placing my hand on her back.

She looked at me as her eyes focused, and she summoned a small, smile. "Hello Gia Grey," her voice was smooth, and dreamy. It was oddly musical, and I found myself drawn into it. I didn't ask how she knew my name.

"Why are you out here in the corridor in the middle of the night?" I asked.

"I suppose I could ask you the same thing…" she said dreamily. I smiled slightly.

"I suppose you could. I'm simply wandering, but you… you're sitting here in a nightgown, no shoes, and it's bloody freezing. Also, you're crying and you've obviously been hurt. You want to tell me what happened?" I said.

Her eyes unfocused again for a second, before she spoke to me, "Some of the other girls find it funny to hide my things, including my shoes, and lock me out of the Tower at night." She said softly.

I felt spike of anger in my chest, and a slow, deep growling seemed to echo in my head. My _inner wolf_, as I called it, seemed angry on this girl's behalf. It only spoke up when something had happened to my friends, the trio, Neville, and even the twins, people my wolf considered pack.

"Did these girls also hurt you?" I prodded. That girl sighed and nodded, her eyes welling up again. I pulled the smaller, obviously younger girl into a hug, and felt her body shake as she sobbed silently into my shoulder. There was something very… pure and innocent about her, and I was immediately taken with her. I made a decision, and slid my arms her knees and put one arm around her back. Her arms slid automatically around my neck as I stood up, carrying her as if she were a small child.

Silently, I carried her through the halls, and she said nothing, not even to ask me where we were going. She sniffled occasionally, and she cried on and off as we walked, but about fifteen minutes later I was stepping through the portrait hole to the East Tower. The fire was burning low, and I strained my ears to listen, I heard Harry and Hermione's breathing, they were both awake, and in my room.

I carried the girl up to my room, wandlessly opening my door, and stepped into it. It was completely lit, which was a sharp change from the dark corridors and common room, and as soon as I stepped into the room, Harry and Hermione's heads snapped up. They took in the crying girl in my arms with alarm. They both stood of from their usual spots, but appeared to not know what to do.

I gently set the girl on my bed, and the poor girl looked so small on the huge bed, and so bright on the dark comforter. But she seemed to smile slightly as she sunk into the mattress. I sat with her head in my lap, stroking her waist length hair. "What's your name, darling?" I asked.

"Luna," she said. I looked up to see that both Hermione and Harry were immediately enchanted by her innocent appearance and her musical, dreamy voice. "Luna Lovegood."

"What year are you in?" I asked.

"Third," she said simply.

"Well," I said, "You don't look very comfortable in the nightgown."

She shrugged slightly, and looked slightly uncomfortable at the observation. "Daddy doesn't know how to shop for me, Mum…" her breathing hitched slightly, "use to shop for me before she…died."

Harry, Hermione, and I exchanged quick, horrified looks. I fought to keep my face smooth and caring. "I'll just have to fix that." I gently picked her up into my arms again, not liking how light she was. "And you have dirt all over you from the corridor floors." I carried Luna into my bathroom, and her soft eyes widened as she took in the sight of such a huge, magnificent place. I wandlessly closed the door behind me, and I figured that Harry at least would have the sense not to walk in.

I set her on a chair at my vanity, while I started the bath water. I made sure it was the perfect, warm temperature. I added bath soap and such to not only clean a person, but also soothe them as they bathed. When the bath was ready, Luna allowed me to slip her nightgown over her head. And I saw her ratty, worn underclothes and I noticed how thin she was. She was obviously self-conscious, and I couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't eating because of those girls that were bullying her.

I carefully took off her underclothes, and tossed them into the trash bin, before easing Luna into the warm water. The second she was in the pool-sized bath, which stopped just above her breasts, she sighed and relaxed slightly. She sat on the ledge that went around the inside of the bath, and leaned her head back on the padded edge of the bath. Feeling oddly maternal to Luna, I sat behind her on the black marble floor and gently washed her hair for as she bathed the rest of her body.

For awhile, perhaps an hour, I watched her swim around the bath, and I found that I loved to see that dreamy little smile on her face. When she was ready to get out, I wrapped her in one of the biggest, fluffiest, warmest black towels I had and sat her at my vanity. She sat completely still as I gently rubbed a bruise-healing balm on her cheeks until the bruise and redness disappeared. She sighed in relief, and her face became dreamy as I caringly brushed her long, silvery glowing hair. She leaned into gentle touch as I brushed her hair, when someone knocked on the door.

Judging from the light knock and softer breathing, I knew it was Hermione. "Come in," I called softly.

Hermione slipped into the bathroom, and I smiled at her, seeing that she was carrying a bundle of clothes for Luna to put on. She smiled softly at Luna as she held up the clothes. "I had a feeling." She said.

"Luna, this is Hermione Granger, one of my best friends. And the boy you saw was Harry Potter." I said, Luna hummed contently to show that she was listening, her eyes had long since drifted shut as I brushed her hair. "We live here in the East Tower. It's been long since forgotten and hidden for centuries. No one alive knows it exists, and we'd like to keep it that way. But if you want, you can come live here too. It's just me, Hermione, Harry…" I hesitated, "and our friend Ron sometimes, but we've got plenty of room."

"I would like that very much, Gia." Luna whispered, her eyes still closed. I saw a single clear tear slide down her cheek, and wiped it away.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Hermione asked, genuinely concerned.

"No one, besides Daddy, has ever really been this kind to me. I don't have any friends at all, and most of the other Ravenclaws aren't…very nice." Luna explained quietly.

I gave Hermione a look that said I would explain to her later, and then I caressed Luna's silky, curtain of hair. I examined the clothes Hermione had brought with her. There was a brand new pair of bright, yellow boy shorts, a matching bra, as well as white silk shorts, and a white t-shirt. Simple pajamas, but they were a huge improvement from what I had found her in.

As she dressed, I pulled Hermione into a corner and quickly and softly explained Luna's situation to her. Needless to say, Hermione was ready to storm Ravenclaw Tower and find out whoever had been tormenting poor, sweet Luna. I felt quite the same.

"Go out there and tell Harry while I help Luna, tell him she'll be living here from now on. We'll talk about it later." I said. Hermione nodded and slipped out of the bathroom, after giving Luna a warm smile.

I walked back over to Luna, who was gazing at herself in the mirror, looking slightly content and rather grateful as I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" She whispered as I held her.

"You don't have to worry anymore Luna. Harry, Hermione, and I will protect you from now on. We'll even teach you to protect yourself. But you have friends now Luna, and you'll find out soon enough that we'll do anything for a friend." I murmured.

I pulled back as she nodded and smiled serenely at me, and then her pale face reddened slightly as her stomach practically roared. "Luna, why are you so thin?" I asked bluntly. "Are you eating enough?"

Looking down at her dainty feet, Luna said, "The girls…they put things in my food and I've been scared to eat." I had to fight down my inner wolf as she howled viciously. She was wanting for blood, and I quite agreed with her.

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked.

"Four days ago," Luna whispered.

I was very close to breaking, but for the sake of Luna, I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. "Prim!" I called.

Immediately, my adorable little house-elf popped into the bathroom and bowed to us with a huge smile. Considering the situation, I couldn't help but smile back, and even Luna smiled slightly at Prim. "Prim, this is Luna Lovegood. She'll be living here from now on. Can you please bring her a _large_ bowl of your special chicken soup, as well as some pudding? Oh, and can you bring up some treacle tarts and fruit?" I asked.

"Prim will be back in a minute, Miss Gia and Miss Luna!" Prim squeaked happily.

"Come on Luna," I said, gently steering Luna out of the bathroom and into my bedroom.

Harry was sitting on the edge of my bed, tightly squeezing one of my pillows to death, though his face was calm, which I knew was worse than him ranting. Hermione looked rather upset too, but she managed a smile as we came out.

"Luna, this is Harry. Harry, this is Luna, our newest family member." I introduced.

Harry gave Luna a genuinely warm, smile and she smiled back easily. "Welcome to the family, Luna." He said honestly. Luna looked a little glassy eyed again as she nodded. Prim popped back into the room and I set up Luna at my desk with a huge bowl of steaming, deliciously mouth-watering smelling chicken soup, a large glass of milk, and pudding.

As she ate her food, and I watched as a bit of color returned to her face and she seemed a lot more comfortable the more she ate, Harry, Hermione, and I munched on our snacks. In a whisper, I explained to Harry and Hermione about those girls keeping Luna from eating, and I knew that that struck home with Harry, who'd experienced something similar with the Dursleys.

When Prim had taken away the dishes and bid us all a good night, I looked around my room. I suppose I could set her up in her own room, but for tonight, I wanted her in the room with me, but I also knew Harry would be with me.

"Can we all sleep in here tonight, Gia?" Hermione asked suddenly. I looked up at her.

"Sure," I said.

Waving my wand, I enlarged the bed slightly and pulled back the comforter. I climbed in and pulled Luna with me, we laid in the middle while Hermione climbed in behind Luna, and Harry climbed in behind me. I waved my wand, and all lights in the room went out, save one. I held the younger girl in my arms, us two facing each other, while Harry held me from behind, and Hermione held Luna from behind. Sighing, we were all asleep within seconds, all drained for different reasons…

The next morning, I awoke slowly, smelling not only caramel and Harry, but also a faint flowery smell. Opening my eyes sleepily, I saw the calm, sleeping face of Luna Lovegood. Oh, right. She looked so content, I was loathed to shift and risk waking her up, but I had to pee really badly. Slowly, I removed myself from the next between Harry and Luna, and rolled over Harry, knowing he was a heavy sleeper most of the time.

I entered the bathroom and happened to peer into the trash bin, and saw Luna's old underclothes. My lip twitched in disgust, and I summoned my wand, setting fire to the old things. Going about my business, I looked at myself in the mirror as I washed my hands. I still looked the same, though my eyes still glowed and my teeth hadn't gone back to normal yet. I was slightly worried about why my wolfish traits were lingering, but knowing that my friends still accepted my, I found that I didn't really mind.

Deciding that I might as well get a head start, I took a nice, forty minute long shower before emerging into my bedroom, as usual, in only my towel. I glanced at my bed and saw that Hermione was no longer in it, and neither was Luna. Harry was still sleeping soundly, and I grinned before leaning down and kissing his forehead.

I saw movement in the corner of my eye and glanced over at the padded windowsill to see Luna curled up their gazing out at the grounds, like Harry usually does when he's deep in thought. "Good morning, Luna. Did you sleep well?" I said.

Luna looked over at me, and didn't seem to mind in the least that I was practically naked in front of her. She didn't seem to have too much modesty about her, and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She smiled serenely, her eyes oddly focused as she spoke to me. "Good morning Gia, and yes, I slept very well."

She was still in the pajamas Hermione had given her last night, but she didn't seem to mind that either as she soaked up the sunlight beaming directly on her. I went into my closet, and faintly heard a shower running in another room. I guess I knew where Hermione was, and I picked out my outfit for the day.

I was feeling a bit feisty for a Sunday, and chose zebra-print harem pants, a black tank top, a black jacket, and shiny black high heels, though they were only about five inches. I let my bright red ringlets hang down today, and remembering Harry's longing for my lips, applied red lipstick. It was the only makeup I ever wore since I never seemed to need any other kind, and it did wonders for my full lips. I don't know why, but I put in black diamond earrings, and a matching ring. Looking in the mirror, I whistled at myself.

I went back into my room to see Harry sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He took one look at me, and I knew that he was just barely restraining himself from having his way with me. I smirked, showing my fangs just beneath my blood red lips, and somehow I just knew that blood was now rushing south in Harry's body. "How do I look, Harry?" I said, teasing him by doing a slow spin and giving him a nice view of my round bum.

Harry's face was awfully red. "You l-look beautiful as a-always, G-Gia." He stuttered out, before running full sprint into the bathroom. I heard giggling and looked up at the windowsill to see Luna still relaxing there. I grinned widely at her.

"What do you think, Luna? How do I look?" I said.

She smiled brightly at me. "You look great, of course!" she said.

"Well, now it's time for you to look as great as I." I said happily. I pulled the younger girl to my closet and stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what would look best on her. I was quite proud that she gazed unflinchingly back at me while I stared at her, when most people, even adults, squirmed.

Humming, I picked through my closet before picking out soft yellow harem pants, a white tank top, a matching yellow cardigan like the ones Hermione and I had worn to Hogsmeade the day before, and white trainers. I handed them to Luna, "Here, you had a long bath last night so you don't need a shower right now. Put this on while I pick out some accessories for you." I instructed.

Without complaint, and actually looking rather excited, Luna did as she was told. I picked through my drawers and drawers full of jewelry before picking out a long, white-gold chain with a pure silver crescent moon pendant hanging from it. This, like the ring I had given Hermione, also had tons of protection spells on it, but for some reason I had never taken it out the box it had come in. Holding it up, I turned to Luna and my eyes popped.

She looked stunning in the outfit I had given her, especially after I shrunk the clothes slightly to fit her perfectly. I smiled hugely and pulled the necklace over her head. "A moon for Luna," I said with a grin. Luna smiled at me and grabbed me in a grateful hug, expressing what words couldn't.

When we broke apart, I made Luna look at herself in the mirror. She smiled in surprise at herself as I took her long hair and used a spell to tease it slightly, giving her a bright, emo look. "Luna, you look amazing in yellows and whites, remember that." I said, "Bright colors mainly, for you."

She nodded in understanding and we walked back into my room where Hermione was, as always, relaxing in the furry, black hammock. It seemed that great minds think alike as Hermione was wearing bright blue harem pants, a black shirt that was tight on her arms but loose on her body, and black trainers. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and still fell down her back in waves. Hermione looked up from her book and her eyes widened as she took us in.

"Wow," she breathed, "You both look amazing. Gia, you always look gorgeous. But Luna, you look stunning!" she exclaimed. Luna blushed under her praised, while I smirked.

"It seems great minds think alike, huh Mione?" I asked. She grinned at me and shrugged.

"I had the urge to put this on," she said.

"And you look great in it." Harry said, emerging from the bathroom. "You all do."

He was wearing black boot-cut jeans, a crisp white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black trainers. He was wearing the long, black chain I had given him with a gold lion pendant on it, and I noticed with a grin, that we were once again matching. It seemed he and the girls noticed as well, and we all smiled.

"Looking as great as we all do," I said grandly, "I say we unleash our beauty on the poor, star-struck inhabitants of Hogwarts!"

Hermione snorted. "In other words, we're eating breakfast in the Great Hall?"

I tapped her nose, and she playfully snapped at my finger. "Precisely, my dear Mione." I said, laughing.

We all grabbed our wands, and Harry, Hermione, and I watched in bemusement as Luna tucked her wand behind her right ear, we all grabbed our money pouches, minus Luna, and we were on our way. Walking down to the Great Hall, Harry, Hermione, and I were use to the attention we gained, but Luna blushed lightly and looked determinedly ahead as people whispered about the beautiful addition to our group.

Upon entering the Great Hall, I carefully scanned the Ravenclaw Table to see who reacted to Luna's appearance. Bingo. Cho Chang and her group of friends looked outraged, jealous, and incredibly nervous as we walked in with Luna. I had my targets. I steered Luna to the Gryffindor Table, and sat her next to Hermione, where Ron usually sat. As usual, Harry sat on my left, while Neville sat on my right.

"Morning Lions," I called down the table.

In unison, the entire table said, "Morning Gia!" much to the amusement of Harry, Hermione, and Luna. They were peeking at Luna, so I introduced her. "Lions, this is Luna Lovegood. Certain people in her house have been stealing and hiding her things, locking her out of the Raven's Tower at night, and tormenting her. So, she'll be sitting with us from now on. She is officially, an honorary Gryffindor."

Immediately, smiles and greetings were sent to a very red Luna, but she looked content. There were also quite a few glares sent towards the Raven's table. "We're not letting," Fred spoke up viciously.

"Whoever was," George continued.

"Tormenting beautiful little," Lee Jordan added.

"Luna Lovegood,"

"Get away,"

"With it,"

"Are we?" Fred ended.

I smirked darkly, revealing my fangs. "Of course not, and I know exactly who it was." I said. Luna looked strangely…thrilled. I could see that she probably wouldn't enjoy hurting anyone herself, she wouldn't object to her tormenters getting what they deserved.

Sending the plans down the table, pretty soon the entire table, from the third years up to the seventh years, was sporting anticipatory smirks, as I outlined the _long_, series of pranks that would be happening to Cho Chang and her group of friends. I also planned on not only informing Dumbledore and Flitwick, and perhaps McGonagall of what had been happening, but I was also telling Cedric. Being a Hufflepuff, I knew he would be livid at how his girlfriend had been treating an innocent girl.

For the _months_ to follow, Cho and her friends were in for a miserable time at Hogwarts, as miserable as they had made Luna and then some.


	14. Exploring The Boundaries

_Previous Chapter:_

_For the months to follow, Cho and her friends were in for a miserable time at Hogwarts, as miserable as they had made Luna and then some._

**Chapter Fourteen**

After breakfast, Harry, Hermione, Luna, and I left the Great Hall and wandered in amicable silence. I thought before making a decision. "I'm taking Luna shopping, we'll be back later." I said suddenly.

Hermione and Harry shared a glance, looking rather amused.

"I swear Gia," Hermione said, "You have an obsession with shopping or at least, forcing people to look as great as you do."

I grinned and shrugged. "And what, may I ask, is wrong with that?"

Harry smirked. "Nothing at all."

"But we'd like to come this time," Hermione said, a rebellious grin tugging at her lips. "I haven't been off grounds yet, like you and Harry have and I figured I could use a day off."

Harry and I nearly fainted right there on the staircase. "Hermione," I drawled, "My sweet, innocent, library-dwelling, rule following Hermione, wants to break a dozen rules by leaving the grounds without permission because she wants a day _off_?" I asked, mock-incredulously.

Hermione snorted. "Precisely my dear Gia," she said, mocking my words.

I clapped my hands happily. "Well, alright-y then," I said. I looked at Luna, who was watching us all, obviously amused. "Luna, are you ready to have the best and longest day of your life?" I asked.

She smiled contently. "Sure," she said. I laughed, and we all headed up to East Tower. Once inside, I held onto all of them, and we used a dark corner of the common room to shadow step. Suddenly, we weren't in our common room, but in an alley beside a huge muggle mall.

Hermione and Harry's eyes bulged. "You took us to the _muggle_ world!?" Hermione hissed, though I could see her eyes gleaming.

I grinned and shrugged. "I figured we'd start here, and then head to Diagon Alley later, before going back to Hogwarts." Grabbing Luna's hand, I dragged her into the huge mall.

It had been eleven in the morning when we'd arrived at the mall, and for two hours, I dragged my three friends around the muggle mall, explaining various muggle things to a pureblood Luna, who seemed rather fascinated of it all. Luckily, Harry and Hermione had grown up in the muggle world, and while I too was a pureblood, I had ventured into the muggle world, and even lived in it for periods of time.

By the time we left, we were all laden down with dozens of shopping bags from dozens of stores. And while Hermione, Harry, and I each bought ourselves various things here and there, most of the bags were filled with things for Luna. She'd been almost overwhelmed by our kindness, especially as I used my own money to buy her things, and she must've thanked me a million times.

After leaving the muggle mall, I'd shrunken down our things and stuffed them in my bag, and then shadowed us to Diagon Alley, where we spent another two hours shopping for witch's clothes for Luna as well. Once again, we were laden down with bags for her, while we picked up a few things for ourselves. Hermione, of course, had bought a bunch of books; Harry and I had bought several Defense books, as well as loads of pranking materials from Gambol and Japes. Luna had been fascinated by a magically locked journey that had never-ending pages; so of course, I had bought it for her.

While there, we all restocked on our Potions supplies as well as stationary materials, and snacks and treats for our pets. Before leaving to go back to Hogwarts, Luna was drawn to Magical Menagerie, so we followed her in, where she found an odd, silvery grey cat with large ice blue eyes. As soon as the cat spotted Luna, it leapt onto her shoulder.

"Oh!" The clerk had exclaimed. "I am so sorry about that!" He started forward to remove the cat, but I gestured for him to stop.

"What kind of cat is that?" I asked.

The clerk scratched his stubbly chin. "It's a magical tabby, a girl, I believe." He said.

I looked at Luna's delighted face as she scratched the cat behind her ears, causing it to purr and rub its head against Luna's cheek. Seeing as cats were an allowed pet at Hogwarts, I shrugged. "We'll take her, as well as food, toys, treats, and whatever collar my friend picks out for her."

In the end, Luna named her cat Canus, which was simply Latin for silver, and she chose an ice blue collar that matched Canus's eyes. We shadowed back to my room and I decided we might as well prepare Luna's room. Seeing as my room was the center of a huge circle of rooms that circled the common room, ending on either side of the portrait hole, the rooms on either side of mine was taken by Harry (right) and Hermione(left). Ron's room was on Hermione's left, so I gave Luna the room on Harry's right, seeing as it had the best view of the lake.

All four of us cleaned it up, opened the windows to let in the crisp, breeze and packed away all of her new things in her dressers and closet. We redecorated her room in Ravenclaw colors though, seeing as she was proud to be in that house, and she was rather happy at the end of it all. Finally finished, it was around four in the afternoon and we had a late lunch in the Great Hall before wandering around the lake.

We tossed around ideas for how Harry was supposed to get passed his dragon, before we retreated to the library. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and all of us set to work searching through the large pile.

"Talon-clipping by charms... Treating scale-rot..." Harry muttered.

"Dragon scales rot?" I asked.

Hermione shrugged, and Luna simply hummed, flipping through the book she had.

"This is no good; this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy_... 'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate..._'" Harry read.

"But Sirius said a simple one would do it." I pointed out.

"Let's try some simple spell books, then," said Harry, throwing aside _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much_. He returned to the table with a pile of spell books, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow.

"Well, there are Switching Spells... But what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous... The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide... I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, and I doubt even Professor McGonagall... Unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O. W. L. Practice papers..."

"Hermione," I said, looking at Harry breathing deeply, "please, just…let him concentrate for a minute." Rolling her eyes, Hermione raised her hands in surrender, and returned to flipping through her book.

We watched as Harry stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping... But dragons had no hair... Pepper breath... That would probably increase a dragon's firepower... Horn tongue... Just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon...

"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor slouched in, cast a bright smile at me, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, we'll go back to the common room... His fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away..."

Though I was friends with Viktor, wherever he went, he did attract a group of annoying, giggling girls, and in a library, that measured up to zero concentration. I waved to him as we left, and he waved back. But sure enough, as we were leaving the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past us, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around waist.

That night, Luna had settled comfortably in her own room after I watched her eat a large dinner. She had been smiling throughout dinner, and I figured it had been the spectacle that was series of erm…_unfortunate_ events that befell Cho and her friends. This included but was certainly not limited to: food and drinks exploding in their faces, peeves zooming above the table, throwing paintballs at them, a _stray_ spell scalping two of Cho's friends, ghastly yellow pimples springing up on Cho's face, as well as many other things.

Needless to say, I had made sure to get dozens of pictures that would mysteriously be posted around the castle the next day. Also, the entire hall, including the Slytherins, had been in stitches at the sight. And after I'd sent a letter to Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwick explaining the situation, they had taken their sweet time trying to diffuse the situation. I loved Hogwarts…

Lately, Harry hadn't even bothered to attempt going to sleep in his own bed, and he'd practically moved into mine. Each week, more and more of his things ended up in my room, even his clothes in my closet, and eventually, all of his things were there, and we were officially sharing my room.

That night, as Harry and I lied in bed, he couldn't sleep and he kept tossing and turning all night. I wasn't annoyed though. The First Task would be in a few days, and we still hadn't figured out how to keep him from being killed by a bloody dragon. Eventually, I had summoned a bottle of body oil.

"Harry, lay on your stomach." I ordered. I sat up and lit several candles around the room.

Looking confused, Harry did as I said and lied on his stomach, his bare back exposed. I squeezed a bit of the peppermint scented oil onto my hands, rubbed it in, and began massaging it into Harry's back and shoulders. I dug deep into his knotted back and shoulders, and within minutes Harry was moaning happily into his pillow. He was so tense and stressed, and I made sure to pay loving attention to each and every inch of his upper body.

I massaged him for, perhaps, forty minutes, and when I was done Harry was practically mush. He was so relaxed and content as he rolled over, and pulled me on top of him so that my body was completely on top of his. He gazed dreamily into my eyes, and I grinned at him.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"No problem," I whispered back.

It had been very hard to resist Harry before then, and I knew he felt the same. The pull to each was rather strong, and I honestly couldn't think of one reason why we weren't together yet. We both knew that we were physically attracted to each other, but it was way more than that. Harry and I understood each other on a level that no one else did, and I cared about him more I cared to admit. I was _in love_, and that revelation didn't shake me as hard as I'd thought it would.

I was in love with Harry Potter.

Gazing into his green orbs, emerald to amber, I plucked up every emotion I felt for this amazing boy, and pushed it all out as I finally captured Harry's lips in a burning, passionate kiss. It seemed that he had done the same, and though we'd both been waiting for this moment for _months_, the kiss was slow and soft and sweet. It was a loving kiss, not a needy, hurried one, and by the end of, we were both breathless.

Definitely worth the wait…

Harry's eyes were blazing with emotion, and I couldn't help but grin as I kissed long and hard again, moaning as he tightened his arms around my waist, pulling me closer onto his body. This kiss was filled with a bit more lust than our first, but it was sweet all the same. Pulling back, Harry and I grinned stupidly at each other.

"I've been waiting for that for months." Harry whispered, his voice husky. My grin widened.

"Me too," I said, burying my face into his neck, inhaling a mixture of caramel and peppermint.

I hadn't realized how tired I was, until suddenly, I was fast asleep, still lying on top of Harry.

The next morning, Monday morning, I groaned as I felt Harry stir. My alarm blared suddenly, and I waved my hand dismissively, causing it to become silent. We laid there for a moment, savoring the feeling of being in each other's arms, and I knew that we were both thinking about the kiss the night before.

Peeking through my lashes, I found myself staring into Harry's eyes. He looked wary as I fully opened my eyes, and I think I knew why. He was worried how I would feel after sleeping on it. To give him a peace of mind, I leaned forward and pulled him into a blazing, searing kiss that left him in a daze as I rolled out of bed and stretched.

"Good morning to you too, Wonder Boy." I smirked. All Harry could do was hum, and grin at me.

Stretching out my hearing, I heard both Hermione and Luna in their showers, and decided to follow this example. We had actual classes that day, so I couldn't take as long as I would like, and twenty minutes later, I was coming out as Harry was coming in. It seemed that one kiss had broken the barrier that we had both put up against letting out our feelings for each other, because as we passed each other, Harry stooped and kissed me before closing the door in my face.

Smirking, I shook my head and entered my closet. I sighed. "It's too bad we have to wear a school uniform." I muttered. "Though I suppose I could change into normal clothes right before dinner tonight…"

First, I used a spell to dry my hair, before pulling on underclothes. I was mesmerized by my own body, and spent the next fifteen minutes staring at myself in the mirror; call it true vanity. That's how Harry found me when he stepped out of the shower, in a thong and bra, staring into the mirror. He gazed longingly at me, and I smirked up at him, and tapped his bare chest. "Now, now Mr. Potter, we haven't got time for _that_ before breakfast."

His face reddened and he pulled me into a kiss so hot, the mirror had fogged by the time we finished. I heard a knocking on my bedroom door. "Hurry up you two, or we'll miss breakfast!" Hermione yelled through the door.

Grinning at each other, Harry and I got dressed. I only had to pull on my clothes, but Harry stood in his towel, and he cocked his head at me slightly. I raised an eyebrow challengingly at him, while I buttoned up my shirt. "You wouldn't dare, Saint Potter." I taunted.

Spawned on by the challenge, Harry dropped his towel and calmly began to get dressed. My eyes popped as I automatically took him in, and I couldn't tear my eyes away. He raised an eyebrow at me as he zipped up his trousers.

"Problem, Miss Grey?" He drawled.

"You're wearing way too many clothes, Wonder Boy." I drawled back, enjoying his blush.

Finally dressed, Harry and I emerged from my closet, grabbed our bags and wands, and exited out into the common room where Hermione and Luna waited for us. Luna looked lovely in a brand new uniform we had bought her. We had even burned all of her old clothes the previous day. Hermione gave us suspicious looks before we left, and headed down to the Great Hall. As we passed corridor after corridor, it became increasingly harder not to simply collapse into a heap of laughter as, sure enough, pictures of Cho and her gang's misery were posted all over the school. It seemed we weren't the only ones who felt that way as we passed many groups of laughing students, from all houses.

We enjoyed breakfast before the bell rang, signaling the start of lessons. We were getting up from the Table, when we saw Cedric leaving the Puff Table as well. "Guys," I said.

Harry and Hermione looked at me (Luna had already left for Transfiguration) curiously. "Cedric still doesn't know about the dragons. And I bet that he's the _only _champion that doesn't know. Does that seem fair to you?" I asked.

Harry and Hermione shared a look. "We'll be late to Herbology…" Hermione hesitated.

But even as she said that, both of them were following me to the staircase.

By the time we reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. I knew Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them. We saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor, and I saw an odd gleam in Harry's eye; it was the same gleam he got when he had one of his infamous _ideas_.

Rolling my eyes, I ran forward until I stopped beside Cedric. His friends eyed me with a mixture of interest and mistrust, an interesting combination. I grinned in a rather feral manner. "Beat it," I ordered. Shooting Cedric apologetic looks, they went into the classroom.

"Tell Flitwick I'm coming!" Cedric called to them as Harry and Hermione walked up beside me. He turned to us, and raised his eyebrow inquiringly. "Hello…"

"Cedric," Harry spoke up, "the first task is dragons.

Cedric's eyes widened. "What?" he said.

"Dragons," I repeated, impatient, "They've got four, one for each of you, and you've got to get past them." Cedric stared at us and I saw a brief flicker of panic that I'd seen in Harry's eyes when he'd found out what the first task was as well.

"Are you sure?" Cedric asked in a hushed tone.

"Dead sure," Harry and I said in unison.

"I've seen them." Harry added.

"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know…"

"Never mind that," I said, once again, impatiently, "Harry's not the only one that knows. Fleur and Viktor will know by now, seeing as both Madame Maxime and Karkaroff saw the dragons too." I rolled my eyes at the slight suspicion in his eyes.

"Cedric," I said, he looked at me, "I'd understand you being suspicious if it was just Harry telling you. I mean, he's competition. But I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, not even for Harry. It's only fair, you know?"

Harry nodded seriously. "We all know now… we're all on even footing, aren't we?" he said.

Cedric seemed to be agreeing, when we heard a familiar clunking behind us. We turned around to see Moody approaching us. "Come with me, Potter." He growled. "Off you go, Diggory. You as well, Miss Granger and Miss Grey."

Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. "Professor, he's supposed to be in Herbology with us…" Hermione said.

"Tell Professor Sprout he's with me then. Go." He repeated.

Knowing we couldn't disobey a direct order, even if I was his favorite student, Hermione and I were headed to Herbology, when my eyes began to cloud over, and once again, I grabbed Hermione, pulling her into the vision with me…

"_Potter, in my office, please…"_

_Hermione looked at me. "This is what's happening to Harry right now?" she asked. I simply nodded._

_Harry followed him, most likely wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid? I highly doubted that. He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one. _

_"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter." Moody said quietly. _

_Harry obviously didn't know what to say; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all. "Sit down," said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around. _

_He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Harry had explained all of this to me before. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that I recognized, but I supposed Harry wouldn't. On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognized it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. _

_In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus. _

_"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" said Moody, who was watching Harry closely. _

_"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial. _

_"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies... No use here, of course, too much interference—students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl. _

_I paused and narrowed my eyes at Moody. Secrecy Sensors were created to sense things darker, more sinister, than merely students lying about their homework. Moody had to have known that, so why would he lie to Harry? I suppose he could be right about his Sneakoscope, though._

_"And what's the mirror for?" Harry asked._

_"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk." He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven key holes in a row. I figured he must've forgotten about some sort of pet in that trunk as I heard a faint, fluttery sort of heartbeat coming from it. That was sick and horrible._

_"So... Found out about the dragons, have you?" Moody asked, bringing all three of us back to attention._

_Harry hesitated. He'd obviously been afraid of this—but he hadn't told Cedric, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. _

_"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."_

_"I didn't cheat," said Harry sharply. "It was—a sort of accident that I found out." I snorted._

_Hermione looked at me. I shrugged. "That's technically true as he hadn't known what Hagrid was going to show him that night." Hermione rolled her eyes at my rather Slytherin way of thinking._

_Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human." Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swiveled around so fast it clearly made Harry feel queasy to watch it. _

_"So... Got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody. _

_"No," said Harry. _

_"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favoritism, me." I saw Harry suppress a snort at that, though Hermione had no such reservations. I grinned and raised an eyebrow at her._

_She stuck her tongue out at me. "He's lying. Everyone knows that you're his favorite student, Gia." She drawled. I shrugged._

"_I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is—play to your strengths."_

_"I haven't got any," said Harry, before he could stop himself. _

_I dearly wanted to flick Harry's nose at that moment. Of course he had strengths. He was incredibly magically powerful, he was smart when he actually tried, and he was a damn good flyer._

_"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"_

_Harry looked as though he had to concentrate. Even Hermione looked frustrated. That should've been the easiest question._

"_Quidditch," he said dully, "and a fat lot of help—"_

_"That's right," said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."_

_"Yeah, but..." Harry stared at him. "I'm not allowed a broom; I've only got my wand..."_

_"My second piece of general advice," said Moody loudly, interrupting him, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need." Harry looked at him blankly. _

_Hermione and I looked at each other and groaned. "Honestly," I muttered, "he can be as thick as Ron sometimes!"_

_"Come on, boy..." whispered Moody."Put them together... It's not that difficult..." Finally, it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt…_

The scene faded as Hermione and I slipped, somehow unnoticed into the greenhouses as Professor Sprout was in the middle of taking role. She called Hermione, and then my name, and by the time she got to Harry's, he was sidling, apologetically through the door.

As soon as he got to our station, Hermione and I both hit his arms. "Ouch!" he hissed. "What was _that_ for?"

"I don't have any _strengths?_" I growled, mocking his voice.

"I'm not allowed a broom… I've only got my wand?" Hermione repeated, almost incredulously.

Harry stared at us. "You had a," he lowered his voice, "vision about that, then?" I nodded. I quickly and quietly explained in a low voice how I had pulled Hermione into two of my visions. He found it very fascinating.

"So then you both know what I need to do, right?"

"Summoning Charm," I said, "Which you've mastered already."

Herbology went by rather quickly after that, and seeing as all three of us had a double self-study period, we headed to the Room of Requirement and got in some extra training. I made sure Harry had indeed mastered the Summoning Charm, and he performed it perfectly every time. I made sure to test his distance with the spell by making the Room bigger and bigger, and placing the objects farther away. It seemed all Harry had to do was concentrate the slightest bit more and push a tiny bit more magic into the spell to get it.

After training, we picked up Luna from Charms and went to dinner. The whole Hall was abuzz with excitement for the First Task the next day. And that night, after bidding both Hermione and Luna a goodnight, Harry and I climbed into bed. I could immediately tell he was restless, and so I summoned the bottle of oil again and made him lay on his stomach.

Once again, Harry was moaning contently into his pillow after awhile as I worked my fingers expertly into his back and shoulders. I was amazed at how much stress he'd managed to build up since the previous day, but I suppose having the threat of being killed by a dragon will do that to anyone. When I was finished, Harry flipped over and I was looking down at him as I straddled his waist. Absently, I massaged his shoulders and chest again, before working my way down his arms to his hands and fingers.

He watched me silently as I worked, his face calm and content, and he was gently holding my hips, his thumbs rubbing my skin. Leaning forward, my hair curtaining around our faces, I gave him a long, slow kiss. I felt the rumble of his moan in his chest and throat as we kissed, and my back arched inward as his fingers trailed up and down my bare spine. I felt my inner wolf begin to howl, and I felt myself become a bit bolder. I let my hands travel from his chest and wound in his messy hair as I deepened the kiss, slipping my tongue into his mouth.

His mouth tasted of treacle tart and chocolate mint ice-cream, both of which I loved. His tongue ran over my fangs, and my body responded, unconsciously grinding against his, causing him to groan. I pulled back from the kiss and buried my face in his neck, running my sharp fangs over his skin, careful not to hurt him. I felt goosebumps spring up on his skin as he shivered under my touch, and I must've touched a special spot as suddenly, I felt something rather hard poking my bum. Grinning against Harry's neck, I purposefully ground hard against him, causing him to tighten his hold on my hips.

His hands trailed down and he experimentally squeezed my bum. The action sent a shiver through my body and I grazed Harry's neck slightly harder, moaning slightly. Harry pulled me into a deep kiss again, his tongue thoroughly exploring my mouth and leaving me dizzy as his hands traveled back up my back and rested on my bra. He gave it a questioning tug, and I finally pulled back, slightly out of breath. Harry was panting, and as we rested our foreheads together, our eyes were smoldering as they met.

"Harry…I…" I began. Harry shushed me with a chaste, loving kiss.

"Don't even worry about it Gia," he whispered, kissing me again, "we never have to go any further than you're willing to go." Hearing that made me care for Harry a great deal more because, unlike most guys, I knew that Harry actually meant it when he said that; I gave him a slow, promising kiss before we lied back down, cuddled together. "Goodnight love," Harry murmured, stroking my hair.

"Goodnight Harry," I murmured back.

We were asleep within seconds…


	15. A Proper Goodbye

_Previous Chapter:_

_Holding me down to his chest, Harry murmured a goodnight in my ear._

"_Goodnight Harry," I murmured back._

_We were asleep within seconds… _

**Chapter Fifteen:**

The next morning, I sleepily silenced my alarm clock and tried to go back to sleep, wondering why I felt so great. My inner wolf seemed tuckered out, I felt her resting in my magical core, and I wondered what had tired her out when I remembered the night before. A huge grin tugged at my lips, and suddenly, I wanted to get up.

My eyes fluttered open and I took in Harry's sleeping face. Leaning forward, I gently woke him up with a deep, loving kiss. At the end of it, he smiled happily at me, his eyes low and content. "I could get use to waking up like this." He murmured, his eyes roving over my body.

Sitting up, Harry pulled me into his lap so that I was straddling him again. He kissed me again, in combination with him running his hands up and down my spine, and along my bum, had me very happy within minutes. "Come on Harry…" I moaned reluctantly as he nibbled my neck. "Have to… breakfast …lessons…" I could barely think straight.

My legs automatically wrapped around Harry's waist as he picked me up and carried me into the bathroom, still kissing on my neck. I absently waved my hand and started the shower, and then waved it again, stripping and Harry and I of our underclothes. We used the shower stall with the frosted glass door as usual, instead of the huge bath that Luna had used, and even as the steaming hot water hit us, Harry had set me on my feet, and we helped each other wash.

We had to get dressed rapidly, using spells to dry our body and hair, because we had taken so much time during our shower. But we managed to make it out to the common room. The second we entered the common room, Hermione and Luna looked at us. Hermione's eyes widened and she gasped, while Luna merely raised a faint, blonde eyebrow, looking hugely amused. Harry and I approached them, holding hands, and I waved a hand in front of Hermione's face.

"Good morning to you two," Harry and I said.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked Luna, pointing at Hermione.

Luna giggled, a soft, tinkling sound. "It's most likely the purple bite marks all over your neck and disappearing under your collar…" she supplied, trying and failing to hide her large grin.

I blushed and mock glared at Harry, who held up his hands in surrender, though one of his hands was still attached to one of mine. "Don't blame me, Gia!" he said,

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm not going to blame myself, Potter!" I said.

"You – I – those… marks – what?" Hermione stuttered out. I grinned.

"Geez Hermione, you've never seen a hickey before?" I teased. Her face flushed and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course I have, I just thought…" she shook her head. "Forget it, but you'd better hide those before one of the Professors see them."

I sighed dramatically until Harry whispered in my ear. "Just heal them. I can always make more later." The promise was enough to send slight shivers down my spine, and I grinned at him, giving him a quick peck before I healed the marks, leaving my smooth, cream neck unblemished again.

I could see that Hermione was dying to ask a certain question, but I gave her a look and we left East Tower, heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry and I walked in holding hands, smiling rather largely for no apparent reason, and all eyes were drawn to us. I vaguely noted Viktor's dark expression, Fleur's knowing smirk, and Ron's softening look. We sat in our usual seats, though perhaps Harry and I sat a bit closer than usual.

"Morning Lions," Harry and I said in unison, smiling at each other.

"Morning," was the usual unison reply we got from the entire table.

The other Gryffindors were grinning like mad at Harry and I, and we pretended not to notice, instead focusing on our breakfast, though it was a bit hard to do as Harry's hand found itself wandering along my bare thighs. He lightly grazed his fingertips along my skin, and I stopped myself from making any sort of noise, though a he grin broke free, causing Harry to chuckle.

I slapped the back of his head, which caused him to laugh harder. "Don't make me hurt you, Potter." I growled playfully.

"Please no!" Harry cried, mock-frightened.

The table watched us with obvious amusement, and I saw Hermione and Ron's lips twitching as well. But even through our little bubble, we felt the atmosphere in the castle of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday to give the students time to get down to the dragon enclosure, though of course, they didn't know what they'd find there. History of Magic was suddenly much more interesting, what with Harry teasing me, trailing his fingers up my thighs the whole hour. And seeing as we had a break and free period afterward, Harry and I made excellent use of that free time.

I'd healed brand new hickeys before we appeared again for lunch, once again, trying not to smile too stupidly. As we ate lunch, we felt people watching us, watching all of the champions actually, but I kept Harry busy, and he did the same for me. We were both still smiling when Professor McGonagall hurried over to us in the Great Hall.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now... You have to get ready for your first task." She said.

Harry's smile slipped slightly as he stood up. "Good luck Harry," Hermione said, "You'll do great!"

I knew that Harry was about to psych himself out, knowing what a pessimist he was, and despite being directly in front of our Head of House, I stood up, wrapped my arms around Harry's neck, and pulled him into a kiss so passionate and promising, it left everyone in the Hall rather dazed, not only Harry. Pulling apart, I saw McGonagall trying to look disapproving but her eyes were glittering slightly.

Harry smiled down at me, still holding me in his arms.

"Harry," I said coyly, speaking so soft that only Harry could hear me, "If you survive _and_ do a good job, I'll have something very _special_ waiting for you afterward." I promised.

Harry smile widened and he swept me in one last kiss before leaving the Hall with McGonagall, with that smile still on his face. Suddenly, Fred and George whistled and soon the entire Gryffindor Table was cheering, leaving me red in the face. Laughing, I conjured a huge banner that was split right down the middle. On the left side, the background was Gryffindor colors along with our crest, and Harry's face with the name _**Potter**_. On the right side, the background was Hufflepuff colors along with their crest, and Cedric's face with the name _**Diggory**_. Directly in the middle, at the bottom was the word _**HOGWARTS! **_

Levitating it in the air, all of the Hogwarts students from all houses burst into excited cheers as we streamed out of the Great Hall and outside. The cheering and supportive attitude lasted all the way to the stands in the enclosure, and even then, we were all screaming and cheering. Having copied my idea, each school had a supporting banner charmed to float over their section of the stands, though Hogwarts was the only one with two champions.

Smiling at Hermione and Luna, I stood up. "I'll be right back." I said.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"I want to go make sure Harry is alright, again." I said, grinning.

Hermione and Luna exchanged knowing smiles, and told me to hurry up. Nodding, I slipped, unnoticed, from the stands and found my way to the tents that contained the champions. I'd made it just in time, and managed to blend in with the shadows and simply watched. Fleur was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor looked even surlier than usual, which I supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned easily. I smiled myself, seeing that he was still running on a sort of high from our activities that day, as well as our departing kiss.

"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him.

"Come in, come in, make yourself at home!" Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. "Well, now we're all here—time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly.

"When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag"—he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them—"from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different—err—varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too... Ah, yes... Your task is to collect the golden egg!"

I watched as Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur and Viktor hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths. But they, at least, had volunteered for this... Hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard still passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking...

It seemed like about a second later—Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack. "Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur. She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon—a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck.

I knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that we had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming. The same held true for Viktor. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. My inner wolf whined slightly at what we both knew was coming.

He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground. Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the bluish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now... Harry... Could I have a quick word? Outside?"

I took this moment to step forward, startling all of them. As usual, Bagman's face lit up at the sight of me. It was actually rather sickening. "Actually Mr. Bagman, I was hoping I could talk to Harry?" I asked sweetly.

Bagman, obviously enchanted with me, bowed, still smiling. "Of course, my dear, take all the time you need." And with that, he left the tent.

The second he was gone, Harry swept me up in a hug, twirling me around in a circle before setting me down and pulling me into a deep kiss. Breaking apart, I smirked at him. "You didn't think I would let you face a dragon without a proper goodbye, did you?" I asked.

Harry snorted. "And that scene in the Great Hall wasn't a proper goodbye?" he asked, though I could tell he didn't mind in the least.

"Of course not," I said obviously.

Turning to the other champions, I smiled easily at them all, as Harry held me from behind, his hands clasped on my stomach. "Come on guys," I said brightly, "smile."

Cedric looked at me as though I were mental. "Smile? We're facing a bloody dragon and you want us to smile? Let's see you smile if you were in our position!" he said, a faint note of hysteria in his voice.

"If I could take Harry's place, I would in a heartbeat." I said. "But you guys actually _signed up_ for this mess, the least you can do is put on a brave face for your section."

All four of them raised their eyebrows at me. "Section?" Harry asked.

I grinned and explained about the banner I'd made, causing Harry and Cedric to smile at me, and then how the other schools had made them to support their champion. Needing to see it for themselves, all four champions peeked out of the tent and looked back in, looking slightly better.

"Those are brilliant, Gia." Harry said softly.

But even as he smiled, I felt my nerves peak. "Harry James Potter, if anything happens to you, I swear by Merlin I will _burn_ the whole fucking Ministry of Magic building to the ground, do you understand me?" I growled seriously.

The other three champions gaped in alarm, and faint amusement. Harry simply held me. "I'll be fine…"

"I'm serious, Potter. Unless you want to be the one responsible for collapsing our government, you had better come out of this alright!" I said forcefully.

Harry spent the next few minutes trying to calm me down, much to the amusement of the other champions, and they were so involved in our bickering, that we were all surprised when we heard a whistle sound. I broke from Harry's embrace and went to Cedric, giving him a tight hug before poking him harshly in the chest. "You had better do your damned best to survive this as well, Diggory." I said.

Though a bit green, it seemed my support and care had made him felt slightly better and before he left, he gave my hair a last tug. Hurriedly, I turned to Fleur and Viktor, giving them each hugs and telling them the same thing, naming various things I would burn down if they didn't survive. Jumping into Harry's arms, I gave him one last long kiss.

"Be okay Harry, I need you, alright you prat?" I murmured.

Harry kissed my forehead. "Alright love, besides," he said, grinning cockily, "I've got loads to look forward to." Remembering my promise, I grinned, kissed him one last time, and sprinted full speed back to my seat in the stands. All of my friends, including Hermione and Luna, were still in the same spot as I plopped down between the two.

Luna pulled me into a hug. "How's Harry?"

I snorted. "At one point, he was the one reassuring me that everything was going to be alright!" They all laughed at that, but the nerves were visible to all who knew where to look. Hermione was as pale as Malfoy but she tried to keep her composure. Luna was not her normal dreamy self as her foot vibrated like jackrabbit on steroids. Ginny had gone slightly pale, a stark contrast to Colin who was an interesting shade of green, though he still clutched his camera tightly.

Slapping my forehead, I hurriedly pulled out my wand and pushed a bit more magic than usual into a summoning spell. Within seconds, my camera came flying towards us, and I caught it easily. Turning it on record, I hit the record button and filmed everyone. I certainly didn't want to miss something this big.

The Twins were still laughing and joking, promoting the various different pieces of homemade prankster merchandise, but their smiles were tight. As the first dragon was part herded, part hauled into the enclosure, I made sure I was recording. "Fuck!" I gasped.

I felt Hermione go rigid beside me, and even Luna was focused completely on the before us.

The Swedish Short-snout, was huge, at least the size of a pair of overweight rhinoceros, winged with claws and vicious fangs in place of horn. Add to that, the ability to breathe fire and I was ready to storm back down to the tent, and face Harry's dragon for him. I felt a sisterly longing for Cedric's safety, but it was overshadowed by my love for Harry.

Ginny's already pale skin somehow paled further. "What the fuck!" she yelped. No one, not even her brothers, admonished her language. We were all feeling the same way. "The champions have to face _dragons_?" she looked faint.

Hermione nodded. "One each…"

Neville spoke up from the row directly in front of us. "And if Harry's luck holds…"

"He'll get the largest, nastiest, meanest dragon in the history of the bloody world," Ginny groaned.

I growled slightly, my inner wolf pacing, "He already did." I told them. "The Hungarian fucking Horntail." This caused a round of groans and pale faces.

Harry had been through enough in his life without being forced to have to do this, and I remembered that Harry had been training for months for this, it gave me more confidence but I was still worried about Harry. Hermione and I shared a look, Harry was the most important boy to us both, besides Ron for Hermione, and we gripped each other's hands tightly.

Its scales were a silvery blue and it was clear that the dragon did not appreciate its predicament, following Cedric back and forth. A burst of sapphire colored flame lanced out. He dived behind cover. The top portion of his rocky outcrop was now molten slag. Dragons, fortunately, cannot breathe a continuous stream of fire for more than ten or fifteen seconds - at least nesting mothers will not to conserve their strength. Over the constant roars of the dragon, we could catch only fragments of the commentary from Bagman.

"…Oooooh, narrow miss there, very narrow…" Dodging from one rocky outcrop to the next, Cedric circled around and ended up pretty much where he wanted to be, ten feet from the clutch of eggs. Waving his wand in a complicated pattern, he transfigured a rock into a dog and sent it out to do battle with the dragon. The Yorkshire terrier is the smallest of its breed but has no lack of courage as it charged to engage its foe that had more than a hundred times the size advantage.

Cedric dashed out, his twelve-inch wand extended before him. "_Accio_!" he whispered. The golden egg flew from within the nest and he caught it with one arm. He heard the roar, and was barely able to turn in time to see the dragon reduce his terrier to a fine ash. The pain I felt for Cedric was nothing compared to what he must have felt as fire licked along his left arm, shoulder and the side of his face. However, fortunately he had completed the task as he managed to scramble clear of the dragon as Bagman shouted his success to the crowd, who was roaring so loud, we only heard the very end of his sentence. "...very good, indeed! And now the marks from the judges!"

"Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur stood tall and proud before the dragon and began to do the unexpected. She began to sing, quietly at first, but slowly letting her voice drift in range and then power, as she unleashed the full force of her Veela charm. The dragon was enchanted, its head swaying from side to side as it followed her slow movement. The men in the crowd were doing pretty much the same thing. The dragon gave an almost sleepy snort of contentment as its head drooped, coming to rest on its fore claws and began to snore. I couldn't help but grin and snort. "Do what you do best, Fleur."

Those within hearing range chuckled slightly at that.

Fleur advanced, singing all the while. The dragon absent-mindedly scratched its nose with a fore claw, and continued to snore like a tank engine. A burst of flame leapt from its nose and caught her robes. Fleur extinguished the burning edge of her robes with a burst of water. Fast asleep, she continued to sing until she had walked in and walked out of the nest, holding her egg high. The Welsh Green continued to sleep. It was obviously the calmest the dragon had been in days.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!"

Viktor stood his ground before the Chinese Fireball and it lived up to its name, unleashing multiple balls of fire in a dangerous spread that hammered shallow ash black craters three feet apart. Victor met the baleful eyes of the dragon, whipped his wand up, around, and thrust forward slightly, firing the first curse of the Tri-wizard Tournament: "_Conjunctivitis!_"

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling as the dragon went on a blind rampage, unleashing fireballs in a rough arc at the ground directly in front of itself in an attempt to protect its eggs by sheer volume of fire. But it was tiring and draining on the dragon, and the creature slumped and then staggered somewhat, crushing several of its own eggs, and that only served to renew its anger. Fortunately, it was now facing the wrong direction. Dodging the flailing tail, Viktor retrieved his egg.

As the Chinese Fireball was hauled from the enclosure, a sudden hush fell over the stadium and the tension built until it was almost tangible. Hermione was on my left, Luna on my right, and Ginny on Hermione's left, we all clutched hands so tight, circulation must've been cut off somewhere. But we barely noticed, all pale faced and slightly shaking as the Hungarian Horntail was brought out. It had taken over a dozen wizards to force the dragon into the enclosure, and with the fight it was putting up, I could only conclude that it was already pissed off.

"Oh shit," I stated; a sentiment that seemed shared by the entire Gryffindor House.

And then we heard the whistle blow.


	16. The First Task

_**A/N: I would've posted a chapter or two on Saturday like I usually do, but Saturday was my birthday and I was out partying all weekend. Lol, and so, here it is…the long awaited chapter !**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_As the Chinese Fireball was hauled from the enclosure, a sudden hush fell over the stadium and the tension built until it was almost tangible. Hermione was on my left, Luna on my right, and Ginny on Hermione's left, we all clutched hands so tight, circulation must've been cut off somewhere. But we barely noticed, all pale faced and slightly shaking as the Hungarian Horntail was brought out. It had taken over a dozen wizards to force the dragon into the enclosure, and with the fight it was putting up, I could only conclude that it was already pissed off._

"_Oh shit," I stated; a sentiment that seemed shared by the entire Gryffindor House. _

_And then we heard the whistle blow. _

**Chapter Sixteen**

I inhaled sharply as Harry walked out through the entrance of the tent, past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence. I saw the slightly dazed look, even from the distance between us. There hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands, of course he was dazed. And of course, there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground.

The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but Harry didn't seem to care as his eyes scanned the crowd, immediately being drawn to the red and gold of the Gryffindor section, and then to the only two redheads in Gryffindors. His eyes landed on me and I let go of Luna's hand long enough to wave, a strained smile on my face, to him. He waved back briefly, and I saw a slight smirk cross his face, and just knew he was thinking of my promise.

He seemed to be focusing his mind, taking deep breaths, and concentrating utterly on his one chance. He raised his wand, and I clutched Hermione and Luna's hands tightly. We'd trained for this, he'd mastered this. He had to get this right. "_Accio _Firebolt!"

We all waited, baited breaths held tightly, tension rising for several agonizingly long seconds, but I was the first to hear it, and a smile broke across my face. "It's coming!" I exclaimed.

And sure enough, a second later we all saw Harry's Firebolt speeding through the air behind him. He turned and his Firebolt hurtled toward him around the edge of the woods, soared into the enclosure, and stopped dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The second his broom had stopped, whatever hush had fallen over the crowd broke, and we were all making more noise than ever, and I was sure that muggles in London could hear us.

Bagman was shouting something that none of us could hear, and we didn't care anyway, every single eye was focused on Harry. I'd been filming the entire time, and I made sure to get everything as Harry swung his leg over his broom, and kicked off the ground. As he soared upward, my camera followed, and I watched as the wind rushed through his hair, I saw a familiar calm come over his face, and I smiled. Harry was born to fly, this was his element, and now that he was on that broom, I knew he'd be just fine.

Eventually, I charmed my camera to float by itself and follow the action wherever it went, and clasped hands with my two friends on either side of me, watching Harry intently.

He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; I knew that Harry knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away. I inhaled sharply, and I wished I was up on my broom with him.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?" Even I had to laugh at that.

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck—if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy—but he'd better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again—Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky—he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes.

"No!" I shrieked, somehow even louder than the screaming and groaning coming from the crowd. I watched the blood well up on Harry, and I leapt up, but I was frozen, staring at him. My inner wolf began pacing back and forth within my magical core, and I focused on the hypnotic movement, willing myself not to interfere with the Task.

Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and he seemed to be getting an idea. The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off; she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them... Harry would have to persuade her to do it, or he'd never get near them... The trick was to do it carefully, gradually...

He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared... He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer... Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now…

I forced breath through my nose, inhaling and exhaling.

She shot fire into the air, which he dodged... Her jaws opened wide... And Harry swerved tantalizingly above her. And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane—and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs—he had taken his hands off his Firebolt—he had seized the golden egg—And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and the crowd was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup—

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

We saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands; the noise of the crowd shook the stands, and came in smoothly to land.

I had ripped free from whoever had been holding me, turns out it was actually the twins, Hermione, Luna, _and_ Ginny, and had sprinted full out down the stairs and around the enclosure, and made it to the forming group where Harry landed.

"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt—which from her was extravagant praise. I noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before—" Her words were cut off as I, an actually blur to her, raced past her and leapt at Harry.

He caught me in his arms, and rubbed my back soothingly as I held onto him, shaking like a leaf. "Dammit Harry, I was so worried! And then you got cut by that… that _thing, _and I swear I almost—" I took a deep breath, and peeked out, realizing that we had a small audience. McGonagall seemed to understand, and after saying, "Make sure he gets to Madam Pomfrey!" she left us.

"I'm fine love, really, it's just a small scratch, no need to burn down the Ministry." He muttered into my hair.

I had to giggle at that, and I allowed Harry to set me on my feet as Hagrid approached, though Harry didn't let me out of his arms, and I didn't remove myself.

"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors'"

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand. Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.

"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.

"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please..." said Professor McGonagall, popping up again.

Harry and I walked out of the enclosure, still holding each other and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried. "Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; we could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while.

"Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky... This is quite shallow... It'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though..." She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly."Now, just sit quietly for a minute—sit! And then you can go and get your score." She bustled out of the tent and we heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"

I could tell that Harry was too high on adrenaline to sit still, and I leapt on him once more, pulling him into a kiss thorough Harry looked as though he could die and be perfectly ok with that. We were still kissing when I heard two people rush in the tent.

"Oh honestly, can you two separate long enough to _breathe_?" Hermione said, exasperated.

We broke apart and turned, grinning, to see Hermione and Ron enter the tent. There were fingernail marks on Hermione's face from those rare moments that we had let go of each other's hands and she'd been clutching her face in fear. "Harry, you were brilliant!" she squeaked.

Harry and I grinned at her, and then Hermione and I shared a look as Ron hesitantly stepped forward. Harry's smile slipped slightly, and I squeezed his hand.

"Harry, I—" Ron stuttered.

His face was as pale as Ginny's had been, and he kept peering at Harry, as if checking to make sure that his best mate was still there. "I'm… ah, fuck it. Harry, I'm bloody sorry, alright? I was an absolutely disgusting, jealous, envious, thick, prat and I won't blame you if you never talk to me again, but mate –" Ron's voice broke slightly.

He took a deep breath. "Seeing you, so close to being killed by that bloody menace, it was _horrible_. And I was thinking, what if you had been killed? And you died thinking I hated you?" He said. "Truth is... I regretted turning on you within a few days. I had to get my mind around some things, come to terms with my own… jealousy, you know? Because I was jealous, before, not so much now… but I was wrong to be that in the first place… And I wanted to apologize, Merlin knows I did, but I… I didn't know what I would say or –"

"Just stop," Harry said calmly.

Ron, who had been rambling, snapped his mouth shut and stared dutifully at his hands. Hermione and I looked from Harry to Ron and back again. I let go of Harry's hand as, suddenly, he rushed forward and smacked Ron smartly on the back of the head, before pulling the redhead into a brotherly hug. He let go and mock-glared at Ron. "Merlin Ron," he drawled exasperated, "next time just bloody _talk_ to me, you prat!"

Ron smiled in relief. "Does that mean we're best mates, again?" he said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "We never stopped, Ron." He said.

Finally mended, Hermione and I squealed happily and pulled the two boys into a tight hug. We felt their arms go around us for a second before we broke apart. Ron gave me and Harry a funny look, though he was smiling. "Come on then," he said, "they'll be putting up your scores then."

Since Harry and I refused to let go of each other, he grabbed his Firebolt in his left hand, and I held the golden egg in the crook of my right arm. It was heavier than it looked. We ducked out of the tent, and grinned at Ron, who was talking as fast as we'd ever heard him talk.

"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he transfigured a rock on the ground... Turned it into a dog... He was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well-the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance—well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire—she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum—you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs—they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."

Ron drew breath as we reached the edge of the enclosure. Hermione and I were silently laughing, and Harry had a content smile on his face, as he listened attentively to his best made. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, we could see where the five judges were sitting—right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

"It marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and we all peered up the field, saw the first judge—Madame Maxime—raise her wand in the air.

What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder..." I squeezed Harry's hand, a huge smile adorning my face.

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever. Ludo Bagman—ten.

"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But... I got hurt... What's he playing at?"

"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly. I had to say I agreed with both of them.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too—four.

"What?" Ron and I bellowed furiously in unison.

"Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!" I had a bunch of other things I wanted to add to Ron's description of Karkaroff, but I could see that Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him, I knew. He didn't tell Ron this, of course, but he looked lighter than air as we turned to leave the enclosure.

"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet us as we set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened—but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah—and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes... Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Ron and Hermione said they would wait, so Harry and I reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him. "Good one, Harry."

"And you," said Harry, grinning back.

Once again, I poked Cedric roughly in the chest. "You're lucky that all you got was a burn, Mister." I growled, "It would've been a shame to have to burn down a very important building on your behalf."

Chuckling, Cedric yanked one of my ringlets before Harry pulled me back into his arms.

"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth—but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open... See the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg—because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Harry and I left the tent, rejoined Ron and Hermione, and we started to walk back around the edge of the forest, the boys were talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as we rounded the clump of trees, a witch leapt out from behind us. It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.

"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

Hermione groaned. "Don't you ever listen?" she hissed angrily.

I snarled at her viciously, thoroughly enjoying the paling of her skin. "I warned you Skeeter, if you keep bothering Harry, or any of his friends, you might end up like Bertha Jorkins." I hissed. Rita paled even further.

"And in case you didn't understand her, yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."

And we headed back up to the castle.


	17. The Cutest

_Previous Chapter:_

_I snarled at her viciously, thoroughly enjoying the paling of her skin. "I warned you Skeeter, if you keep bothering Harry, or any of his friends, you might end up like Bertha Jorkins." I hissed. Rita paled even further._

_"And in case you didn't understand her, yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."_

_And we headed back up to the castle._

**Chapter Seventeen:**

The trio and I headed up to the Owlery that evening to send Sirius a letter, explaining that Harry had, in fact, not been viciously slaughtered by a dragon. "Gia, we have to fill him in on what he's missed." Harry said softly.

We were trailing behind Ron and Hermione, holding hands. "I know, but save it until we get back to East Tower. I want to introduce him to Luna, and then we can tell him_ everything_." I said, referring to the secrets that had been shared in Ron's absence.

Harry grinned. "But, my dear Gia, you haven't been to one of Gryffindor's legendary House parties." He said, not counting the one after he'd been announced a champion.

Despite myself, I felt a grin tugging at my lips. "Fine, after the party, we'll go back to East Tower." After writing an agonizingly long letter to Sirius –Harry couldn't resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of his every move—we finally made our way up to Gryffindor Tower. I could hear the party going on down the corridor.

Sure enough, when we entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire. I had snorted and snapped a few pictures of that one before charming my camera to take a bunch of pictures on its own.

We helped ourselves to food; I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with the trio. It warmed me greatly to see how happy he was at that moment. He had Ron back on his side, he'd gotten through the first task, he wouldn't have to face the second one for three months, and he had me.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which I had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules..."

"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione and I could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily, though I outright laughed.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed. Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and pried it open. It was hollow and completely empty, which made me wonder why it was so heavy, but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears. My ears were ringing unpleasantly as Harry slammed the egg shut again. He gave me an apologetic look.

"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee... Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

I hoped not, banshees were bloody difficult to get rid of.

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!" I looked at Neville. He'd been there when his parent's were being tortured. Is that what they sounded like? And did he still have flashbacks and dreams of it like Harry?

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... Maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower. Harry." There were a lot of sniggers and laughs at that.

"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred. Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned. "It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch—"

Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed. "Just my little joke, Neville..."

I grinned up at Fred. "Now, now Gred, I thought you and Forge were testing on firsties?" Fred paled as Hermione's face darkened.

Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"

"Yep," said Fred, relieved that she hadn't killed him. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful... Get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."

I looked suspiciously at Hermione. "Hermione, I'll show you the kitchens, if you swear you won't start trying to stir the elves into rebellion."

Hermione glared, mock outraged. "I just want to see if they're happy!"

Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary. "Oh—sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot—it was the custard creams we hexed—"

Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal. He even joined in laughing. "Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them—seven Sickles each, a bargain!"

"I'll give you, George, and Lee a galleon each if you turn Cho and her friends into canaries during a meal." I said.

There was a roar of laughter and cheers and encouragement at this, and the three pranksters looked as though they would do more than just that. I couldn't wait.

It was nearly one in the morning when the trio and I dragged ourselves up to East Tower. As soon as we were inside, I went over to Luna's room and poked my head in. I smiled. She was fast asleep, and the moonlight seemed to be shining directly on her. Snapping three pictures, I left, closing the door behind me.

Retreating to my room, I sat in the center of my bed, Indian-style, while Hermione sat in the furry hammock, Harry on the windowsill, and Ron lounged on the swinging bench. We all looked at each other, unable to not smile at seeing us all together again. "Well Ronniekins," I drawled lightly, "You missed a lot, so pay close attention while we get you caught up." Ron nodded seriously, and for the next forty-five minutes, we took turns telling Ron _everything_ that he'd missed.

He'd found it bloody awesome about my wolf-side, he was prepared to join me and Hermione in murdering the Dursleys, and he asked me again if I should've taken Divination. All in all, he took it all rather well.

I tried to stifle a yawn, but Harry caught it and grinned. "It's late, and we still have lessons tomorrow, so we'd better get to sleep." He said.

With calls of goodbye, Hermione and Ron left to their own rooms. I stood up and teasingly trailed my fingers down Harry's chest, smirking up at him. "I do believe I owe you something for surviving and tying for first, Mr. Potter."

His eyes were already darkening with lust, and he simply followed my lead as I pulled him into the bathroom and threw up silencing charms. It was about three o'clock in the morning when we finally fell into bed, huge smiles on our faces.

The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Drafty though, the castle always was in winter. We were glad of its fires and thick walls every time we passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. I thought the Beauxbaton caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too. Hagrid, we noticed, was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from the trough in the comer of their paddock was enough to make our entire Care of Magical Creatures class light-headed. This was unhelpful, as we were still tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits about them.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told our shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an see if they fancied a kip... We'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes..."

There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them, but I figured it was better that they'd kill each other rather than us. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length. Their thick gray armor; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the most repulsive things we had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.

"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."

But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don panic, now, don' panic!" while the skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class—Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead—had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in;

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I, however, were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid.

"Bloody cowards!" I snapped at the cabin window, where Malfoy and the others were watching from.

Together we managed to restrain and tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left, by this point, my inner wolf was out for blood, and I was sorely tempted to let my wand _slip_. "Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Ron and Harry used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back.

"Jus' try an slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won hurt any o' the others!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that!" Ron shouted angrily as he and Harry backed into the wall of Hagrid's cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks.

"Alright, that's enough!" I snapped.

Growling under my breath, I pushed a bunch of magic into a spell. "_Perplectus!_" I cast. Immediately, a thick, nearly impenetrable spiderweb formed around the skrewt, binding down it's stinger in the process. "Honestly, you'd think they were rangling a bloody dragon, for Merlin's sake!" I grumbled as I levitated the skrewt into its box, and nailed it shut with a spell.

"You bloody cowards can come out now!" I yelled at Hagrid's cabin.

Harry had scooped me up and twirled me around in a kiss, rapidly evaporating my annoyance. "You were absolutely great, as always." He murmured, kissing me again. Ron simply clapped me on the shoulder.

"You guys were great as well," Hermione and I said as she approached.

"Well, well, well... This does look like fun." Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm. "Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he checked the last box to make sure it was secure.

"Rita Skeeter," I supplied, stepping forward, "Scum of the earth reporter for the Daily Prophet, and soon to be in its obituary section." Apparently, she hadn't seen me yet, and my sudden appearance startled her.

"Look, you little brat," she hissed, her smile falling, "You wouldn't dare, lest your pretty little face end up in Azkaban." My inner wolf prepared to pounce, and Rita looked terrified as, instead of backing down, a large, vicious, fanged grin grew on my face.

"Rita, Rita, Rita," I tsked, "One would've thought that you'd have done your research correctly." I laughed, a dark, cold sound that sent shivers down everyone's spine. "My name is Gia Aria _Grey_, the same Grey family that helped found this world, and the very same Grey family that _funded_ not only Azkaban, but also the original Ministry building. My family predates the Ministry, our laws, Azkaban, _and_ Hogwarts, therefore, I don't fall under the jurisdiction of any."

With each word that I spoke, Rita's skin grew paler and paler. The class had filed out of Hagrid's cabin, Malfoy and his gang included, and everyone was staring at me with unhidden shock and awe. "Meaning," I said viciously, "If I wanted you to …_disappear_, no one would even think twice about it. Now _leave_." I snapped.

Quick as a Firebolt, Rita had hightailed it away from me. I felt Harry holding me from behind again, his hands clasped on his stomach, as I turned to the rest of the class. The Gryffindors looked as though they would replace Harry with me as the direction of their reverence, while the Slytherins looked as though they would like to kiss the hem of my robes. Malfoy was eyeing me as though trying to figure out the best way he could steal me from Harry, which is probably exactly what he was thinking.

"Hagrid," I called, "If that _woman_ ever comes around here again, please slam the door in her face. She lives to ruin the reputations of innocent people, and I would hate to see her do that to you. Plus, Dumbledore said she's not even allowed in Hogwarts, anyway."

Hagrid nodded in understanding, and class was dismissed.

As the students all left, I felt my eye twitch at the stares and whispers that followed the trio and me. "Harry, is this how it feels to be you?" I growled.

He squeezed my hand. "Something, like it." He said, and then his face changed slightly. He hesitated. "Are you…alright, Gia?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know…you seem a bit more… aggressive lately." He said slowly.

Outwardly, I appeared careless, but on the inside, I had frozen. Harry had noticed? I was hoping that I had been able to mostly hide it but apparently I wasn't doing as good a job as I thought. It was because of my inner wolf, I knew. She was getting more active and restless, and I was getting more wolfish because of it. My eyes and teeth had never gone back to normal after the last full moon, and I was constantly worrying that I would just snap and turn into a werewolf one day.

Sighing, I shrugged. "I'm fine, Harry." I said softly. And we left it at that.

After finally convincing Ron to drop Divination (he'd gotten tired of doing the work by himself), we put him through his paces that afternoon. I had already raced through my usual laps, showing and stunning the trio with how fast I could actually go when I tried, and was now sitting on the side, watching them run.

Harry, of course, had the best physical shape after me, having grown up taking gym classes, running from his horrid cousin, and the months I had been training him. Hermione had been training almost as long, and she grew up having gym classes in muggle school as well. Ron, on the other hand, who grew up in the wizarding world with no gym class and was actually rather lazy, was in poor condition. By the end of his first lap, he was red in the face, and breathing as though he would die at any moment.

Being the strict trainer, I let him rest for five minutes before forcing him through another two laps. "Alright, you can stop now!" I called across the track. Immediately obliging, Ron simply dropped where he was. Harry and Hermione watched on with slight concern, slight amusement from the side, having finished already.

Changing the room back to a dueling room, I let Ron get his breath back before setting them each up across from a dummy. "Harry, Hermione, you've both already mastered these spells, so while I get Ron caught up, I'll let you practice the ones you already know." I said. "First, I want you to focus on aim, rather than the actual spell that you use. It's better to hit an opponent with a weak spell in the right spot, than to waste magic on a strong spell, and not hit the opponent at all."

"Understood," the two said in unison.

I was just turning to Ron when I heard Harry curse. "What the bloody hell was that?" he yelped, rubbing his stomach. I smirked.

"Sorry love, did I forget to mention the fact that the dummies shoot back stinging hexes?"

"Yes, you did." Harry grumbled.

I shrugged carelessly. "You're opponent won't simply stand there and let you shoot spells at them. These dummies will not only try to dodge your spells, but also shoot mild stinging hexes back. Call it… incentive to master dodging or shield charms." I said.

Now properly warned, the two got back to training, and soon their side of the room was filled with spells, mild explosions, and curses.

"No offense Ron, but you're way behind so we're going to jump right in this." I said. Ron brushed off the slight, and nodded determinedly. First, I explained the proper way to master a spell, the same way I had taught Harry, and set him about doing a simple summoning charm.

"I thought I was going to learn something interesting." Ron grumbled, facing the mountain of pillows. I raised an eyebrow.

"Ron, if you summoned say… a sword from behind your opponent, and they didn't dodge it, what would happen?" I asked. He looked green.

"They would be impaled." He said softly.

"Exactly, and what if you had just enough magic left to summon one weapon to use?" I said.

"I would have a longer chance of not dying," he answered.

"Precisely, now focus." I said.

I stood back and watched as Ron stared at the pillows, before raising his wand. _"Accio pillows!" _he shouted.

None of them so much as twitched. Ron tried again, and again, and again. And every time he tried, he failed, and he got more frustrated. Luckily for him, Harry and Hermione were too absorbed in their battle to notice his failures. "Stop Ron," I said.

"I can't do it!" he snapped, dropping his wand. "I was never powerful like Harry, or smart like Hermione. I don't have the power to do a bloody spell or the knowledge to know a bunch of spells."

"That's your bloody problem, right there!" I growled.

He looked up at me with shock and confusion.

"Your problem isn't that you can't do it, it's that you don't believe you can do it! You keep comparing yourself to people around you, especially Harry, Hermione, and your siblings. But you can't be like them Ron, and you never will be." I said.

His face crumbled, and I grabbed his hand.

"Ron, you can't be like Harry, or Hermione, or the Twins, or any of them. You have to be yourself, and you have to know that you _can_ do it, even if they get it first." I said, slightly softer. "You care about Hermione, right?" I asked.

His head snapped up, his eyes hard as diamonds. "Of course," he said defensively.

"Well, what if we're all in a battle with… Death Eaters or something, and Harry and I are fighting for our lives, but Hermione needs help? Are you going to mope about how you don't know enough spells to help her, or are you going to get off your arse and actually _try_?" I said.

"I'm going to do anything I can to help her, or die trying." Ron said fiercely. I grinned at the sudden spark of fire in his eyes.

"That's right! And Ron, you're bloody brilliant at tactics and strategy, not everyone is meant to be a fighter. Neville has that same problem, but I taught him how to do a switching spell because I told him that I believe in him, and he has to believe in himself." I looked Ron directly in the eye. "Ron, I believe in you completely. Harry believes in you. _Hermione_ believes in you. Now, build on that and show us that you're worth our belief."

Nodding determinedly, Ron turned back to the pillows. "_Accio pillows!" _he snapped. Nothing happened. "_Accio pillows!" _ I could see him getting disheartened, but he raised his wand to try again.

We heard a scream, and our heads snapped over. Hermione had been hit with a particularly strong stinging hex, and she was cradling her arm, but she got up, glaring at the dummy, and blew him apart. I looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow. He took a deep breath.

"_ACCIO PILLOWS!" _he bellowed.

Sidestepping it, the mountain of pillows crashed into Ron, just as it had for Harry, and I smiled. I knew he could do it. Just like with Harry and Hermione before, after mastering that simple spell and knowing he could do, Ron progressed rather nicely. While Harry had raw magic in spades, and Hermione had loads of spells in her head, Ron's specialty lied in using spells in odd yet effective ways.

For example, though a banishing charm is used to get rid of objects, Ron used it to banish heavy and sharp objects at the dummies. He used exploding spells to demolish the terrain as well, creating dust and large piles of rubble he could use to his advantage, etc. Ron also turned out to be particularly good with offensive spells, rather than defensive. That was revealed when he'd accidentally blasted apart all of our dummies, instead of just his own. Though we had to use the rest of our Double Period, and the following break, we all chipped in and got Ron mostly caught up on the spells I'd taught them.

"Now," I said, "you know that at the end of every training session, I teach you lot a new spell." The trio was paying rapt attention, as usual. "I know a bunch of spells that would make even Moody think twice about using them, but I won't be teaching you that for a long time."

The trio looked as though they didn't mind that. "W-why do you know spells like that?" Hermione asked slowly.

I grinned darkly. "Let's just say I have a lot of enemies." I said vaguely. "Anyway, today I'll be teaching you the Syrticus curse. Have any of you heard of it?"

As expected, Hermione raised her hand. "Hermione," I said, highly amused, "we're not in class, you can just answer the question."

The boys grinned while Hermione flushed. "Right, I've read about it," the boy rolled their eyes in an _of course_ gesture, "it's supposed to turn the ground, where you've pointed your wand, to quicksand."

I grinned. "Excellent Miss Granger, ten points to Gryffindor." This caused them to laugh. "But seriously, Hermione is absolutely right, and this is a very useful spell if you're looking to stop an opponent, and not kill them. More commonly, it is used by Aurors and Hit Wizards to stop criminals from escaping when they run away."

Turning to the dummy, I charmed it to run away. As it started running in the opposite direction from us, I pointed at the ground just in front of it. "_Syrticus!_" I snapped.

Instantly, a ten foot circle of quicksand appeared, and the dummy sunk right in. I let it sink up to its shoulders before casting, "_Duro!_" Then, I turned back to the trio. "The second spell I used doesn't make the quicksand disappear, it makes it harden, binding whoever's been caught in it. The sand doesn't crush the person, it simply forms around them. To completely get rid of the sand, you can simply use a _finite incantatum._"

Nodding in understanding, the trio spent the last ten minutes of our training trying out the spell. None of them mastered it, though Hermione managed to get a small puddle of sand started, before it was time to head out. We went to dinner and afterwards, Hermione and I shared a secret grin.

"Come on," I said, tugging Harry's hand. "Hermione and I want to show you something."

Hermione was tugging Ron's hand, and I couldn't tell which one of them was redder at the contact.

"Gia," Harry whined, drawing out the vowels, "where are we going?" He'd asked at least ten times as Hermione and I led him and Ron down through six floors, and start down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.

"You'll see in a minute, darling." I said, a conspiratory grin on my face.

We turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which led, eventually, to the Hufflepuff residence. Judging from the look on Harry and Ron's faces, they had never been through here before. They boys followed us down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, we found ourselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food. Now personally, that should've given it away.

"Oh hang on..." said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" We turned around to look at him, anticipation all over Hermione's face. "I know what this is about," said Harry. He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.

"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again! And – and you've dragged Gia in on it, too!"

I flicked both of their noses. "No you prats, it's not about spew." I insisted.

Hermione huffed. "And it's not spew!"

"Changed the name, have you?" said, Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front? I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it—"

"Honestly Ronald, will you shut up, it's not that!" I snapped, laughing.

I grabbed Harry's arm, Hermione doing the same to Ron, and we pulled them in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl. Hermione stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. I giggled. "Isn't that the cutest thing ever?" I said. Harry grinned wryly.

"The cutest," he said sarcastically.

Hermione seized the door handle, pulled the door open, and we pushed Harry and Ron hard in the back, forcing them inside. Harry only had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, before something small hurtled toward him from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"


	18. Old Friends, Plans, & Nerves

_**A/N: Luckily for me, I have up to Chapter Thirty-One written for this story, seeing as I haven't written in a week. Writing means everything to me, and I feel completely burnt out for having gone so long without it. To get back on track, I decided to post another chapter. Enjoy !**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_Hermione seized the door handle, pulled the door open, and we pushed Harry and Ron hard in the back, forcing them inside. Harry only had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, before something small hurtled toward him from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"_

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Stepping aside, we watched as Harry had the wind knocked out of him by the squealing elf that hit him hard in the midriff, hugging him so hard, I was sure I heard his ribs protesting.

"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.

"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" The elf squealed. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!" Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness.

He was wearing the strangest assortment of garments I had ever seen on a house-elf. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. One was black, and judging from Harry's nostalgic expression, it was the sock he had tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.

"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.

"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!

"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"

"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of these tables, we noticed as he passed them, was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but I supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above.

"And Winky is…the house-elf from the World Cup?" I asked. Hermione and Ron nodded. I had actually been at the World Cup, but after watching the Death Eaters torture those muggles, I'd left, figuring the Aurors could handle it.

At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them, Hermione, Ron, and I trailing after them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied like a toga. Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.

"Winky, sir!" he said. Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care other clothes at all.

There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.

"Hello, Winky," said Harry.

Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front.

"Oh dear," said Hermione. "Winky, don't cry, please don't..."

But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry. "Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.

"Err—yeah, okay," said Harry. Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for all of us, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.

"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.

"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.

"Only a week. Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed—"

At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.

"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!" The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing.

Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"

"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter... Dobby likes being free!"

The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying. "And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.

At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to144her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.

"And then Dobby had the idea. Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?'Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house-elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"

Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again. "And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"

"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.

"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss... Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."

"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly. If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.

"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"

"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But—Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you—"

"Hermione, stop!" I said.

She glared at me. "It's not right!" she said.

"And we've been over this, that's what you've been working towards. It's not going to happen overnight! Winky, I order you to be quiet!" I snapped.

At once, Winky stop crying and screaming, and stared, wide-eyed up at me; I ignored Hermione's expression, though both Harry and Ron were watching, rather interested.

"Winky, you're obviously not happy as a free elf… so, why don't you come work for me, the Grey family?" I said sternly.

Winky gasped. "You is part of the Grey family? Oh, Winky had heard stories of the powerful Grey family. It is being an honor to come work for Miss Grey!" she said, almost reverently.

I kneeled down, and Winky placed her hand on my forehead. "Do you, Winky the elf, solemnly swear to look after, care for, protect, be loyal to, and keep the secrets of the Grey family?" I asked.

Her hand and my forehead where she touched it began to glow. "Winky does, Miss."

"Then I, Gia Aria Grey, do solemnly swear to look after, care for and protect Winky the elf. So mote it be." Winky repeated the last four words, there was a bright flash of light, and when it disappeared, Winky looked younger, and loads happier than before. She was also wearing the same uniform that Prim wore: an adorable silver and amber dress with my family's crest on it. She admired it, but paid rapt attention as I spoke to her.

"Now Winky, you represent me and my family, and you will conduct yourself with the utmost dignity and self-respect. You shall _not_ harm yourself in anyway, no matter what, and please, no more sobbing. You will be treated like a proper house-elf should. Prim!" I called.

My only other house-elf, Prim, popped in, dressed the same as Winky now was, and smiled, before curtsying. "Yes, Miss Gia?" she asked happily.

"This," I said, gesturing to Winky, "is Winky, she's my newest house-elf, and I want you to teach and train her in the ways of my family. Oh, and make sure you keep her busy." Turning to Winky, I said, "Winky, this Prim, my Head elf. You will listen to her, and do exactly as she says. She is a great and loyal, proper house-elf and you will learn from her, understood?"

Winky curtsied. "Yes, Miss Gia. Winky understands."

I patted her head. "Good. And it's a good thing that you're here Prim, I want you and Winky to go to the property I'd chosen for Christmas break. Make sure it's spotlessly clean and secure, and if you find yourself idle, you both may return here to work in the kitchens." I instructed.

Two very ecstatic elves nodded and popped away. I was rather amused at the approving looks the other elves gave me. They obviously felt that all elves should have an owner. Harry and Ron looked both intrigued and slightly confused, while Hermione was stuck between angry and something I couldn't even identify.

"Hermione, she was miserable as a free elf. If making her happy meant giving her work, what's wrong with that? You know I'll treat her right." I said.

Thinking it over, Hermione sighed. "Fine, but only because I've seen the way you treat Prim." She said.

We finished up our visit with Dobby, and because we were pressured by a bunch of house-elves, we left levitating huge bags of snacks and pastries. When we got back to East Tower, Luna was relaxing in the common room, reading a book on rare magical creatures, her cat Canus, was curled up in her lap.

"Hey Luna," we all called in unison.

She looked up with a smile. "Hello Gia, Hermione, Ron, and Harry," she said, her voice dreamy and serene. I grinned.

"Here, we've got loads of snacks." I said.

Pondering, I conjured a huge refrigerator, but seeing as electricity didn't work in the magical world, I cast a bunch of cool, freezing, and preservation charms on it. "There, now we can store food and it won't spoil." I said.

Harry laughed. "If you keep that up Gia, we won't have to leave for anything except classes." And then he seemed to remember something. "What was all that about Christmas break?" he asked.

I looked at all of them with a smile. "Harry and I are going to one of my properties to celebrate Christmas. I would love if all of you," I said, looking at Luna, Ron, and Hermione, "would bring your families along to stay as well."

Hermione's face had lit up with excitement. "You really mean it? Oh, my parents would love to have their first wizarding Christmas!" she squealed.

Ron looked hesitant. "Are you sure there'll be enough room for all of us?" he asked. I snorted.

"You don't have to worry about that Ron, all of my properties are huge, but this will comfortably fit everyone, and we'd still have room. I still have loads of planning to do, which I'll need Hermione and Luna's help with, but that's the plan for Christmas. Harry, are you in?"

The responding kiss was answer enough.

"Gia," Hermione suddenly spoke up, "when _is_ your birthday?"

Harry looked rather interested to know as well, and I sighed. "It's New Years', January 1st," I said. Hermione's eyes widened in horror.

"But that's so close! Why didn't you say anything!? Oh, I need time to think of a present!" she moaned. I laughed.

"Calm down Hermione, anything you give me will be just fine." I said honestly. Glancing at Harry, he was looking at Ron, slightly panicked. And that's precisely the reason I didn't want to tell them about my birthday, because I knew that they would freak out about getting the perfect gift.

"Harry, I know your birthday is July 31st, right?" I said, making sure. He grinned and nodded. "What about you three?" I asked. Conjuring a notepad and muggle pen, I wrote down Harry's name and his birthday next to it, along with Neville's, which was the day before Harry's. "Harry, did you know that Neville's a day older than you?"

Ron laughed. "Mine's is March 1st." he said.

"Mine's is April 11th," Luna piped up. I smiled at her.

"I figured you'd been born sometime in the spring." I said.

Harry still looked stunned about Neville. "He's never said anything about it." He mumbled. I got a list of all the Weasleys from Ron.

"I really need to start thinking of Christmas gifts to get you all…" I sighed, "I should've started earlier, but I've never really had Christmas with other people."

Harry wrapped his arm around me. "Well, you know how my Christmases usually go, so we can have this one together." I kissed him for that.

That night, I insisted that Harry sleep in his own room so that Luna and Hermione and I could plan out some things. He grumbled, but did as he was told.

"So, how many parties do you plan on having?" Hermione asked, after I had erected silencing and anti-eavesdropping charms. I pondered for a moment.

"Well, of course I want to have a Christmas party with my friends and their families; I was thinking I could have a _huge_, birthday bash on New Years', you know, give everybody something to remember for the year." I paused. "I was wondering if it would be a good idea to invite people from other houses. I mean, it would be fun with just Gryffindors, but I figure, the more the merrier, and it'd give us all a chance to be able to interact without the pressure of House rivalries."

Hermione's eyes were sparkling. "Oh, that's a great idea. I don't know if the boys would appreciate it, but it is _your_ birthday bash!" she exclaimed. Luna and I laughed.

"I also want to have a party for Harry, during the summer. I was thinking a joint party for him and Neville, but that planning can wait until after the hols." I said. The other two agreed. "Let's just start with Christmas, and go forward from there."

Hermione appeared thoughtful. "Well, there's you, Ron and all the Weasleys, Harry, of course, and Luna, with, I'm assuming, her dad?" We looked at Luna, who hummed serenely.

"Daddy hasn't really been social as of late, so I think he would quite enjoy a Christmas party." She said.

"Great. I want to invite Neville and his Gran, as well as…" I paused, "_Snuffles_ and Remus, both as a Christmas surprise for Harry."

Hermione face couldn't possibly get any brighter than in that moment. "That would be the best Christmas gift ever, for Harry to be able to spend Christmas with them!"

We stayed up a bit later, talking and planning, until finally, both girls went back to their own rooms to go to sleep. The second they left, Harry appeared. Shaking my head with a grin, I opened the comforter. He closed and locked the door behind him, and crawled into bed. Extinguishing all lights in the room, Harry and I cuddled up, and fell asleep.

"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?" Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through our Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up.

Hermione and I looked at each other, rolled our eyes, and slapped each boy on the backs of their heads.

It was the end of the lesson; we had finished our work; the guinea fowl we had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); we had copied down our homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}. The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.

"_Really_, Harry?" I muttered. He blushed and tried to look innocently at McGonagall.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor—Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before—"I have something to say to you all. The Yule Ball is approaching—a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above—although you may invite a younger student if you wish—"

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry, Professor McGonagall ignored them, but I glared at them so hard, the blood drained from their faces and they made it a point to not look in Harry's direction again.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then—" Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class. "The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to—err—let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. We could all see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders. Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter—a word, if you please."

"Just wait for me in the corridor," he said to Hermione, Ron, and I.

We were just leaning against the opposite wall in the corridor, when I felt my eyes cloud over. Quickly, I grabbed both Hermione and Ron, pulling them with me.

_"Potter, the champions and their partners—"_

_"What partners?" said Harry. Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny._

_"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."_

_"Dance partners?" His face got very red_

"_Blood hell!" Ron exclaimed, looking around. "This is what being inside your visions are like?"_

_Hermione and I shushed him, and turned back to McGonagall and Harry._

_"I don't dance," he said quickly. _

_"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."_

_"I'm not dancing," he said. _

_"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."_

_"But-I don't-"_

_"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way. _

We came out of the vision just as Harry was coming out of the classroom. He looked at me, and I could see the panic in his eye. Great, he was scared to ask me to the ball. We automatically linked hands, and seeing as we had a free period and then lunch, we all simply wandered around the school, talking about anything but the ball. It was right before we were entering the Great Hall for lunch, when Viktor came over to us.

"Gia," he said, "can I have a vord vith you?"

I looked at Harry, who was dutifully ignoring both of us, and rolled my eyes. Dropping his hand, I ignored his expression, and walked a little ways down the corridor with Viktor. When we stopped, I glanced over to see Harry glaring daggers at Viktor but also looking apprehensive, while Ron was watching closely, and Hermione was looking from me, to Viktor, to Harry, and back again.

"I vas vondering, Gia," Viktor said, and I felt my stomach drop, "if you vood go to the Yule Ball vith me?"

I smiled softly. "I'm so sorry Viktor, and normally I would've said yes, but… I-I'm kind of with Harry." I said gently. Viktor sighed deeply.

"I suspected as much, but I had to try. Thank you for being honest and kind to me. I vood very much like it if we remained friends? And I still think you should go pro." He said with a smile.

I gave him a quick hug. "Of course we can stay friends Viktor, and thanks, I'll really consider it." I promised. He nodded, kissed my hand, and walked off.

I truly felt bad for turning him down, and if Harry didn't ask me, I would have to retract my rejection. There was no way I was missing my first school ball because Harry was too scared to ask me. I walked calmly back over to where the trio was waiting for me, and Hermione and I walked a little ahead of the boys. I didn't let Harry take my hand.

"So, what did Viktor want?" Hermione asked. I was very aware that both Ron and Harry were listening closely as we sat down at the Gryffindor Table.

"He asked me to the Yule Ball," I said nonchalantly. Hermione's eyes popped, as did everyone else's at the table.

I was aware of Harry ravaging his sandwich, before he turned to me stiffly. "So, you and Viktor are going to the Ball together, then?" he asked, his voice almost cold.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not," there were gasped from the girls at the table, "I'm waiting for _someone_ else to ask me." Hermione and I shared a look. Honestly, if that didn't make it obvious, nothing would.

Harry stared at me for a moment, and his eyes were so warm and open in that moment, I felt my heart get all fluttery. Standing up, Harry pulled me to my feet, and right there in front of everybody, he held both hands of my hands in his. "Gia Aria Grey, will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" he asked in a loud, clear voice.

Almost immediately, I squealed happily and jumped on him, pulling him into a kiss that left him senseless. There were cheers up and down the Great Hall, mixed with groans of disappointment from boys and girls, along with catcalls. We heard a throat-clearing and broke apart to see McGonagall staring at us disapprovingly, though her eyes were bright and her lips twitched up in a smile. When we sat back down at the Table, Seamus groaned.

"Come _on_ Harry, you're making the rest of us look bad!" he joked.

"Yeah," Dean piped up, "Now we'll _all_ have to ask them out in front of the whole bloody school!" We all laughed at that, and I gave Harry a quick kiss before we began eating.


	19. Dates & Invitations

_Previous Chapter:_

_Harry stared at me for a moment, and his eyes were so warm and open in that moment, I felt my heart get all fluttery. Standing up, Harry pulled me to my feet, and right there in front of everybody, he held both hands. "Gia Aria Grey, will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" he asked in a loud, clear voice._

_Almost immediately, I squealed happily and jumped on him, pulling him into a kiss that left him senseless. There were cheers up and down the Great Hall, mixed with groans of disappointment from boys and girls, along with catcalls. We heard a throat-clearing and broke apart to see McGonagall staring at us disapprovingly, though her eyes were bright and her lips twitched up in a smile. When we say back down at the Table, Seamus groaned._

"_Come on Harry, you're making the rest of us look bad!" he joked._

"_Yeah," Dean piped up, "Now we'll all have to ask them out in front of the whole bloody school!" We all laughed at that, and I gave Harry a quick kiss before we began eating. _

**Chapter Nineteen:**

The rest of Thursday and the following Friday were filled with rather interesting attempts from boys and girls at finding dates for the Ball. Even though the entire school, and the other two schools, had witnessed Harry asking me to the Ball, and me agreeing, both of us were still asked to go by many people. Harry was rather uncomfortable telling girls no, some of which cried, but I felt nothing as I rejected boy after boy. I also forced Harry, Neville, and Ron to learn how to dance from me. Somehow, the twins, Seamus, and Dean joined us, and I found myself teaching them all.

That weekend had been announced a Hogsmeade weekend so that we could all get a head start on shopping for the Ball.

Saturday morning, I awoke to Harry massaging my back with our favorite peppermint body oil. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, but it was the first I woke up to it. I moaned into my pillow as he used his calloused hands to caress my skin. He went as low as my lower back, teasing me, and then back up to my shoulders. By the end of it, I was ready to shag him senseless. We hadn't gone any farther, and we didn't plan to for a _long_ time yet, but it was so tempting sometimes.

"Mm, what did I do to deserve this?" I moaned. He chuckled.

"Just for being you, Gia." He said softly.

"Maybe I should be me more often, then." I said, smirking.

Reluctantly, I stood up, completely naked as we had taken to sleeping, and Harry and I took a joint shower, only kissing and groping though. When we got out, we went to our now joint closet, and began to get dressed for the day. I had developed a sort of obsession with harem pants, they were just so cute and comfortable, and had gone out one weekend, and bought every pair I could find. I'd also taken to making up my own designs and charming my pants with them.

Today, Harry wore light blue jeans, and tight black v-neck, and black trainers. He looked rather handsome even when he dressed so casually, and I kissed him quickly before picking out my own outfit. I decided on black harem pants with gold snitches flying around on them, I loved the design and apparently, Harry did too. I also wore a loose sheer gold shirt to match the snitches, black high heels, my black diamond jewelry, and the bright red lipstick that Harry loved so much. I decided on a cute knitted black beret that went perfectly with my outfit and hair.

When I was finished and twirled for Harry, he was still speechless even though I dressed nice all the time. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, which left a bright red lip mark on it, I laughed and we prepared to go. Stepping into the common room, Ron was dressed similarly to Harry, though his v-neck was a dark purple; Luna was showered, but she didn't know what to wear.

"Come on, I'll help you since I can hear that Hermione's still asleep. It's a bloody miracle." I muttered, dragging Luna up to her room.

Looking through the younger girl's closet, I picked out a shirt similar to mine, only Luna's was a bright white that looked great with her silvery blonde hair and pale skin. To go with it, I handed Luna vibrant red skinny jeans and little black boots, along with a matching red beret like mine. I know that Luna loved it when we matched, and I found it cute.

When she was dressed, we went back out into the common room where Harry looked as though he was trying to keep Rom from completely freaking out. "Ron –"

"No! I can't do it!" Ron said shakily.

"Can't do what? Ask Hermione to the Ball?" I asked. Both boys looked at me in shock. I rolled my amber eyes. "Oh please, I wish you'd all stop questioning my intelligence. It's _obvious_ that you fancy her, Ron."

Said boy flushed deeply. "It doesn't matter, I can't do it, and she'll say no anyway."

"Ron, you don't have to do it like Harry did, in front of the whole school. Just ask her. I promise you that Hermione will say yes." I said. He peered at me, hopeful and pale.

"Just ask her?" he repeated. I nodded.

"Look, I can hear her in the shower, and I'm going to go get her dressed. When we come out, you'd better be ready to ask her." I warned. "Pull on some of that famous Gryffindor courage, for Merlin's sake!" I grumbled.

Luna came with me up to Hermione's room which was, unsurprisingly, covered in full bookshelves. She certainly was in the shower, and as Luna simply relaxed, humming to herself, I went through her closet. Hermione always wore blue, so I decided to switch it up a bit. I grinned. Besides, this way, I could make sure that Ron and Hermione are matching. Seeing as Ron and Harry were dressed similar, and so was Luna and I, I picked out a deep purple shirt like mine, light blue skinny jeans, and matching purple heels like mine.

When Hermione emerged from her bathroom, she barely looked at Luna or Me, until she saw my evil grin. Then, she looked rather wary. "What are you grinning like a loon about, Gia?" she asked slowly.

I shrugged innocently. "Oh nothing," I said. Rolling her eyes, Hermione smiled at Luna and me.

"You two look great, as usual."

"Put that on, and you'll look as great as we do." I laughed.

Fifteen minutes later, all three of us left Hermione's room, and I was relieved to see that Ron had a serious, determined expression on his face. The second Hermione made it down the stairs to the common room, he approached her. "You look beautiful as always, Mione." He began.

She smiled brightly at him. "You look rather dashing as well, Ron." Both of them grinned, noticing that they were matching. Ron took a deep breath then.

"Hermione, I wanted to ask you before anyone else did…will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" Ron asked, thankfully, without a stutter. Hermione's face lit up the entire room as she pounced on Ron in a huge hug.

"Yes!" she announced.

Harry, Luna, and I slapped fives as the two broke apart, both red but grinning brightly. I smiled, noting the fact that they were holding hands very naturally, like Harry and I. Grabbing our wands and money pouches; we left East Tower, all in good spirits.

We got the usually appraising looks, even my little Luna, but as we were all together now, no one dared ask any of us to the Ball, lest they be cursed rather forcefully. When we were nearing the Great Hall, Ginny practically flew out, a brilliant smile on her face.

"Oh Gia, guess who asked me to the Ball!?" she squealed happily. Hermione, Luna, and I couldn't keep the smiles off our face. Her happiness was contagious.

"Who?" I asked.

"Neville!" she exclaimed, obviously ecstatic.

Looking in her shining brown eyes, I could see that she was crushing hard on my little brother. "That's great, Gin. Neville's a great guy, he'll treat you like a princess at the Ball." I said.

"Wait just a min—" Ron was cut off as Hermione tugged his hand. He looked down at her, and she just smiled and shook her head at him.

"Ron, you know Neville. You've lived in the same dorm with him for like four years." She pointed out. Rolling his eyes, he shrugged.

"Fine, but if he tries anything inappropriate…" he let the threat hang in the air.

I turned to a beaming Ginny. "Now Gin, Neville's like my little brother, and we're very close. You know how shy he is, so please don't hurt him or overwhelm him, alright?"

"Of course not, Gia; I…" her tone softened, "I really like Neville." She said. I could sense the truth in her, and she was practically glowing with happiness.

When we walked into the Great Hall, Ginny grabbed the spot on Neville's right; both were red and smiling at each other. I sat on Neville's left as usual, Harry on my left, Hermione in front of me, Luna on Hermione's left, Ron on Hermione's right, in front of Harry. We all clapped Neville on the shoulder as we sat down.

"You take care of my sister, and we're good, alright Neville?" Ron said, though he was grinning. Neville, a brilliant red, nodded seriously.

Breakfast was very bright and cheery, and we could all feel Christmas in the air. It was as we were leaving the Great Hall that a rather cute boy approached us. His skin was a cream color, his hair a dark brown, and his eyes a charcoal green color. He was about Harry's height and lean like Harry, too. His face was kind and open, and from the Ravenclaw crest on his white button-up, I figured he was smart too, but perhaps that was simply a stereotype.

"Hey Luna," he said, a soft smile on his face.

The rest of us stood back and watched. Luna's face lit up brightly as she smiled at the boy. "Hello Terry!" she said happily.

"I heard that Gia Grey and her friends took you in," he said, glancing at us, "that's really great, anything to get you away from those stupid bints. Cho was really out of line."

Luna waved it away. "I'm fine now and very happy with my new friends."

"I'm glad you're happy Luna, I just… miss hanging out with you in the common room." Terry said.

Looks were exchanged within our group, and our smiles got infinitely larger. Unless I was mistaken, these two were quite fond of each other. I recognized the boy, his name was Terry Boot. He was in our year, and he seemed like a decent sort. He was also one of the only people in History of Magic to actually take notes, besides Hermione and few other Ravens.

"Me too," Luna said softly. Terry scratched his head, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"I was wondering Luna… if you'd go to the Ball with me?" he asked.

"I would very much like that, Terry." Luna replied. Smiling brightly, Terry leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. Our smiles were so bright, as Terry prepared to walk away.

"Terry," I called. He looked back. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"The library?" he said. I snorted. Of course, bloody Ravenclaw.

"Oh no, you're not mister. You're coming with us to go shopping for the Ball!" I ordered, laughing. He looked at Luna, who smiled and nodded encouragingly.

"Fine," he said, though he was smiling as well.

And so the eight of us walked happily down into Hogsmeade, where we ravaged Honeydukes once again (Harry, Hermione, and I had miraculously run out of candy), and left the owners very happy people. After a drink in the Three Broomsticks, I led them all between two shops and smiled at them.

"Alright, the best place to get dress robes is Twilfit & Tattings, but they don't have one here. There _is_, however, one in Diagon Alley…" I hinted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We're going off grounds again, aren't we?" she groaned, though I could see a grin tugging at her lips.

"Oh, you know me so well, Mione." I said.

Ginny, Neville, Ron, and Terry looked stunned.

"Off grounds?" Terry asked. "Isn't that breaking like, a dozen school rules?"

I nodded carelessly. "Terry, you'll soon find out that rules mean very little to us." I turned to Ron. "I'd forgotten that you haven't off grounds with us yet, and Ginny and Neville haven't either. Well, there's a first time for everything."

"How are we getting there this time?" Harry asked, giving me a look.

"Portkey," I said.

"You have one?" Hermione asked.

"I'm about to make one." I said.

"B-but you need proper authorization to make one!" Hermione gasped.

I rolled my eyes. "Hermione, did you not hear my rant at Rita Skeeter? I don't fall under the jurisdiction of Azkaban, the Ministry, or Hogwarts. I won't get in trouble for making the portkey, but you lot can get in trouble if you're caught leaving grounds."

"Well then, let's go." Ginny said, excitement tingeing her voice.

I looked at the others. Harry, Hermione, and Luna were use to this. Ron was ready for an adventure, Neville trusted me to take care of everything. Terry eyed all of us with a strange smile on his face, before he sighed.

"I can tell that life is going to get interesting around you lot." He said, by way of agreeing.

"You'd better believe it," Harry laughed.

Conjuring a length of rope, I focused on the outside of Twilfit & Tattings in Diagon Alley, and whispered, "_Portus._" The rope glowed a soft blue, meaning the spell worked.

Hermione and Terry were both very impressed.

"Alright you lot, its password activated, so everybody grab on a piece, and for Merlin's sake, _don't_ let go." I instructed. Making sure that every single one of them was holding a piece of the rope, I nodded. "Twilfit." I said.

Immediately, I felt a tug just behind my navel, and in a swirl of colors, my feet left the ground, only to come back down a second later. Blinking, I looked around the familiar streets of Diagon Alley. Ron had managed to steady Hermione, Ginny and Neville steadied each other, Luna and Terry landed perfectly, and I landed rather gracefully. Looking down, I snorted at the sight of Harry sitting on his bum, looking rather put out.

Helping him up, I laughed. "What happened?"

He rolled his eyes. "Me and magical transportation, besides brooms, don't get along. No portkeys, no floos." He said.

My portkey had been precise, and we were all standing outside of Twilfit & Tattings shop. I stepped in first, the other seven coming in behind me, and smiled as a familiar face rushed forward.

"Gia?" the lady said.

I smiled. "The very one, Twil." I said to the twenty-something year old woman.

"Oh, you look as beautiful as ever! And my, where did you get those pants?" she exclaimed.

"I charmed them myself," I said proudly. She laughed.

"Always the trendsetter, you are. Now, who are these lot?" she asked, eying my friends.

Pointing to each one in turn, I introduced them. "This is…Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Terry. We're here to shop for the upcoming Yule Ball before the owl orders start flooding in."

Twil laughed, and though she recognized Harry, I was grateful that she didn't make a big deal about it. "Are we doing the boys or girls first?" she asked.

"Boys," I said immediately. "We're picking out their dress robes to match our dresses, and then they'll be leaving to wander or do whatever while we pick our dresses."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why are we leaving?"

I smirked. "Because _dear_, we want you guys to be stunned into silence the day of the Ball. So, you can't see our dresses before that."

"Fine," he grumbled.

For the next two hours, each girl forced their date into various dress robes of sizes, colors, and styles. Ginny and Ron especially, had been worrying about shopping because this shop was a very high end, upscale shop. "I'm paying for everybody except Harry, Neville, Terry, and Hermione, actually. So basically, you two and Luna, just accept it because we all know who'll win this little debate." I said.

They'd protested until Twil mentioned that I was a _very_ frequent shopper there, and could no doubt afford them all a hundred times over. They were content after that.

At the end of the two hours, all of the boys had been outfitted, paid for, and kicked out. I gave Harry a nice, long kiss before he left. "Don't worry Potter, you'll appreciate the gesture later on. And I don't want to see your pretty little arse around here until we're done."

Now that the boys were gone, all four of us girls began to look for the perfect dress. I, of course, was turned to for help and opinions. I helped Ginny first, seeing as we had similar problems matching colors with red hair.

"With your shade of red hair Gin, I'd say a sort of purple then." I decided. "Remember that," Ginny nodded, paying close attention.

I picked through dozens of different dresses of various shades and styles, before I found the perfect one for Ginny. It was a strapless, deep royal purple pintuck dress, with a fine layer of silvery lace over it, witch flecks of shimmery gold in it. While Ginny was in the dressing room, trying it on, I moved onto Luna.

"Luna, you always look great in bright colors, so we'll stick with that." Rather quickly, I found a knee-length, red tulle dress, and sent Luna into her dressing room with that.

Finally, I turned to Hermione, who looked as though she were about to have a meltdown. "Geez Hermione, what's the problem?"

"I can't find anything that looks _right_ on me! Oh, Ronald will regret asking me to that bloody Ball!" she wailed. At that moment, both Ginny and Luna stepped out of their dressing rooms, wearing their dresses.

"Wow," Hermione and I breathed in unison.

Both girls looked absolutely stunning! I turned to Hermione. "See? If I can find dresses for Ginny and Luna, and have them look _that_ perfect, I think I can do the same for you!" I insisted.

And sure enough, fifteen minutes later, I found the perfect dress for Hermione. It was an ice blue fitted corset bodice prom gown, with extensive silver embroideries and a satin apron over layers of floaty tulle and a lace-up back. When she emerged from her dressing room, I whistled, which caused the slightly older girl to blush.

"You look gorgeous Hermione," Luna said.

"Yeah, my brother will be practically comatose when he sees you in that." Ginny added, smiling.

I'd found my dress already, in between helping the girls. It was a short, satiny, emerald green strapless dress with a sparking silver band around the bust. It perfectly matched Harry's eyes and the robes I'd picked out for him, and it went perfectly with my hair. Red and green… I'd truly feel the Christmas spirit. Finally done, Twil rang up our purchases and all three girl's eyes popped at the price, but I didn't even blink, I simply handed over my black Gringotts card.

"G-Gia, that was a lot." Ginny stuttered as we left the shop.

I'd carefully shrunken our bags and placed them in my purse so the boys couldn't see. I shrugged. "That was nothing Gin, and expect me to whisk you away tomorrow, just the two of us."

"For what?" she asked. I grinned mysteriously.

"You'll find out tomorrow."

Like I'd figured, we found the boys in Quality Quidditch Supplies, drooling over the model of the brand new Firebolt XT. When we'd managed to pull them away, even I was drawn in by its smooth handle, perfectly aligned twigs. I could just imagine how smooth and fast it would fly…

"Gia!" Hermione yelled, pinching my arm.

I yelped and glared at her. "What?"

She huffed. "Honestly, you're as bad as the boys. You've been gazing at that broom for the last five minutes, and I've been calling your name."

"It's not just a broom Mione, it's the _Firebolt XT!_" I squealed. The boys, minus Neville, and Ginny all agreed with me.

I knew what I was getting Harry and myself for Christmas. And I figured we could give Ron and Ginny our Firebolts, both of which are still in perfect condition. So that knocked Harry and Ginny off of my Christmas shopping list.

Pulling out the rope, I reversed the direction and we all held onto it. "Hogwarts." I said, and we were whisked back to the alley between two shops. This time, I was prepared, and managed to keep Harry on his feet.

It was only four in the afternoon when we got back, so we all hung out and walked around Hogsmeade again, buying even more candy and such. And finally, we headed back up to the school for dinner, and went our separate ways after I'd given Terry and Neville their robes, but put away Harry and Ron's in my own closet. I'd hidden the girls' and mines dresses in my trunk, which even Harry couldn't get into. That Sunday, I took Ginny on a shopping spree like I'd done for Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Ron. Like Ron, she protested but I forced her anyway.

Afterwards, I gathered my four best friends in my room. Hermione was in the furry hammock, Luna had taken Harry's spot on the windowsill, I had conjured another padded swinging bench for Ron, and Harry and I shared the original one. "So, Hermione, Luna, and I were talking, and I decided that I want to have a _huge_ birthday bash at the property we'll be at over break." I started.

Harry and Ron immediately looked excited. "Huge?" Harry asked.

"Huge," I repeated. "I… was thinking about inviting people from other houses."

"I don't see a problem with that." Harry said.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "As long as there are no slimy Slytherins."

Hermione and I shared a look that, unfortunately, the boys caught.

"You're not seriously considering inviting them, are you?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"They'll probably try to kill us, or wreck your house or something!" Ron yelled.

I snorted. "One: yes, I'm very serious. Two: By stepping through the front door, they're making a vow not to intentionally harm anyone or anything in anyway, if they try, they'll be immediately ejected from the property, and will have all memories of its location erased. Well, once everyone leaves, they'll forget the location anyway." I explained.

Neither Harry nor Ron looked very happy about it, but they grudgingly agreed. "Great, now," I summoned a bag filled with cute little envelopes. "I've already made the invitations, and I'll be sending them out tomorrow morning, so that everyone who's invited will get them at breakfast."

"Why send them out so soon?" Hermione asked.

"It's pureblood etiquette when planning a social event to send out the invitations early, giving the guests time to either decline the offer, or move around their own plans to accept." I said.

"That… actually makes sense." She muttered.

"Excellent, but what Slytherins are you inviting?" Harry asked. I sighed.

"You're not going to be happy…"

"Malfoy!?" Harry and Ron guessed in unison.

I shrugged. "I figured I'd give him a chance to not make me hate him, and besides, if he does try something, don't you want to see him transported, naked, to the middle of Diagon Alley?" I said, smirking.

"How?" Ron asked.

"It's part of the wards. The warning is in the invitation, which is also a timed portkey so it isn't necessary to tell anyone the actual location. The portkeys are charmed so that only the person who the invitation was sent to can use it. Once that person is transported back to wherever they left from, it'll burst into flames. Also, it's impossible to duplicate them or copy the destination." I explained.

They all looked impressed. "It seems you've got it all figured out, then." Luna said.

"Of course, I've been thinking about this for months." I looked at Harry. "I'm inviting Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini, the Greengrass sisters, Davis, Bole, Higgs, Pucey, Vaisey, and Harper from Slytherin." I listed, ticking off fingers as I said names.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, a slight grin on her lips. "I see you haven't invited Crabbe, Goyle, Bullstrode, or Flint." She pointed out.

"No offense, but all of them disgust me." I said bluntly. They all laughed at that. "From Ravenclaw, I'm inviting Clearwater, Davies, Fawcett, Corner, Terry, Goldstein, Padma, and a bunch of others from fifth, sixth, and seventh year. Same for Hufflepuff, but the ones you lot might know are Cedric, of course, Stebbins, Smith, Justin, Ernie, Hannah, and Susan, and the others are from the upper years. Of course, I'm inviting _almost_ everybody in Gryffindor from fourth year up, along with Ginny, and a few other third years she knows so she won't feel too out of place. I made sure to include the entire Gryffindor team, and you four are obviously invited."

Hermione bit her lip. "That sounds like a lot of people, especially with all of the upper years."

"That's the point of it being a birthday _bash_; it's supposed to be huge. Luckily, the property is private and there are no other houses for dozens of miles in all directions so we can have the music up as loud as we'd like." I grinned.

"What time will it end?" Hermione asked.

"I was thinking from nine to four…" I said. Eyes popped. "What? It's a _party_."

"You really think parents are going to let their kids stay out till four at a party, especially the Muggleborns?" Hermione asked.

"Anybody's who's been raised in the wizarding world knows of my family, and their parents will let them. The Weasley kids are staying for break anyway, and as for the Muggleborns, I can have an adult call or visit their parents to reassure them." I said.

"There's going to be chaperones?" Ron asked.

"Not exactly, unless you count Bill and Charlie as chaperones…" I said. "There will be two there, but they're surprises."

Hermione and I shared a knowing look.

"So, that's your birthday bash," Harry said, "who's going to be at the Christmas party?"

"Oh, that's a lot smaller. It's just going to be you all and your families." I shrugged. "A nice, family Christmas… and then the parents will leave on New Years' Eve so we can get ready for the party."

"But, no alcohol, right?" Hermione asked. I smirked.

"No promises."

Harry and Ron grinned excitedly at each other.

"This is going to be the best party in the history of anything!" Ron exclaimed.

"Actually, that would be my seventeenth birthday bash, which will include a bunch of stuff that you won't find out until then." I teased. "And, I'll be disappearing in between classes these next two weeks getting Christmas gifts. Don't ask me what you're getting because I won't tell you."

When everyone retreated to their own room for the night, Harry and I had a bit of fun before going to sleep.

All in all, a very good weekend indeed…


	20. Helping The Enemy

_**A/N: Some of you might be extremely surprised or upset about the kindness shown in this chapter, but I promise that it serves a purpose for the rest of Book Four and future years. I promise that in the next three and a half years, you'll all be shocked.**_

_Previous Chapter:_

"_This is going to be the best party in the history of anything!" Ron exclaimed._

"_Actually, that would be my seventeenth birthday bash, which will include a bunch of stuff that you won't find out until then." I teased. "And, I'll be disappearing in between classes these next two weeks getting Christmas gifts. Don't ask me what you're getting because I won't tell you."_

_When everyone retreated to their own room for the night, Harry and I had a bit of fun before going to sleep._

_All in all, a very good weekend indeed…_

**Chapter Twenty**

The next morning, I awoke and instead of lying in bed with Harry for a few extra minutes, I got up and stretched. I felt Harry's hand go around my waist from behind, and he kissed my Lycan tattoo on the very center of my back. It was a wolf's paw print, with weird looking runes in a circle around it. I thought it was pretty cool, and when Harry kissed it, my inner wolf howled happily.

"Come on Wonder Boy, I've got to get up to the Owlery early to get all these invitations out." I laughed.

We took a quick, joint shower with very little fooling around, before we got dressed in our uniforms. As we dressed, I thought of my gifts to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with Charlie, Bill, and Percy. All I needed was Ron and the twins, and I'd be done with the Weasleys. I still needed to think of gifts for Hermione, Luna, Neville, and a few of the professors that I favored, and I wanted to get Harry something more meaningful than a broom, though he was still getting that as well.

Having solved a huge part of my problem, Harry and I left a note on our bedroom door saying where we were going, grabbed the bag of invitations, and left East Tower. The walk up to the Owlery was quiet and peaceful as the castle slowly woke up. We made it up to the Owlery just as the sun was coming up, and the view was breathtaking. Putting two fingers to my lips, I whistled.

Immediately, all of the owls turned to me, while Ario and Hedwig flew to Harry and me. "Listen up you lot, I've got loads of invitations to send out to Hogwarts students, and they need to be sent at breakfast. School owls, line up and get one!" I called.

"They won't understand that." Harry snorted.

I smirked a second later at his dumbfounded expression as all of the school owls did, indeed, make a line and take one invitation before flying back to their spots to await breakfast. I gave Harry's invitation to Hedwig when he wasn't looking, and gave Malfoy's to Ario, seeing as Malfoy's contained an extra warning that he was to read to all invited Slytherins.

When we were done, Harry and I walked hand and hand down to the Great Hall, which had filled up by that point. We found Ron, Hermione, and Luna already at the Table when we sat down. "Morning Lions," Harry and I called.

"Morning!" was the usual, laughing, unison reply we got back from the whole table, even the younger and upper years had caught on. I looked up at the Head Table and saw most of the professors smiling at our morning tradition.

Throughout breakfast, I kept glancing up to see if the owls were coming yet, until eventually Harry successfully distracted me as his hand traveled teasing up my bare thighs. But _finally_, the owls swooped in and many more people than usual got an owl. I waited as there was an almost unanimous opening of invitations before the noise in the Hall peaked rapidly. There were squeals of delight, high fives, cheers, and people calling my name.

"Gia!" Lavender squealed from down the Table. "What's the dress code? Casual?"

"Damn, I knew I'd forgotten something. Let me see your invitation Harry," I said as Hedwig swooped down with it. He handed it to me, and I tapped it with my wand. At the bottom of every invite, the words _Fashionable Casual_ appeared, this caused another spike in noise as people began to chatter excitedly about what to wear.

Throughout the day, dozens of people approached me with questions about my party, what fashionable casual meant, the times, etc. The most asked question was about the dress code, so I took Harry's invitation again and added: _Fashionable Casual: Dress nice but comfortable. Dress cold or warm, doesn't matter._

That seemed to clear up a lot of confusion, and like Hermione predicted, the Muggleborns invited had questions about the times. I explained to all of them that a chaperone would either call or personally visit their parents if they sent me a slip of parchment with their address or phone number on it.

In Herbology, the Hufflepuffs that were invited pounced on me, with questions and excited babble. It was actually a nice change from stony silence and glares. During breaks and lunch, we were still ambushed by people, and it seemed that my party had bumped the Yule Ball in terms of importance and talk, something that delighted me greatly. And it was during my break before lunch, that I remembered I hadn't invited Viktor or Fleur.

I'd created two invitations, and at lunch, had personally handed one to each of them. "Since I don't know anybody from your schools besides you, your invitation is good for you and plus three. The portkey will work _only_ for you and those three people." I had explained to both Fleur and Viktor. Both of them had been excited and grateful at being invited, and had immediately said they'd be there.

It was in Care of Magical Creatures that day that the Slytherins finally caught up to me.

"Grey!" Malfoy called as he and his mates strolled down the lawns towards Hagrid's cabin. "A word, if you will?" Rolling my eyes, the trio and I walked forward to meet them.

Malfoy held up the invitation questioningly. I raised an eyebrow. "What, you've never been invited to a party before?" I asked.

"Of course," he snapped, "but I was wondering as to why _we_ were invited in the first place." He gestured to the others who'd been invited. I noticed that Crabbed, Goyle, and Bulstrode didn't look too happy.

I sighed. "Look, I'm _trying_ to give you lot a chance, alright? You read the warning to the others?" I asked. Malfoy nodded. "Alright then, that's it. You've been invited to my birthday party, you know the rules. As long as you lot are at least decent to everyone else, they'll make an effort to be decent to you; all of us just want to enjoy this party."

"Yeah Malfoy," Harry spoke up reluctantly, "We're willing to be decent if you are."

Malfoy, who seemed to be the spokesperson for the lot, nodded. "Fine, we'll be decent if you are."

Ron groaned. "Alright we get, everyone is going to be decent, can we stop bloody repeating the same thing?" he whined to all of us, Harry, Hermione, and I laughed. As we all walked back down to Hagrid's cabin, I decided to be nice.

"Parkinson," I said, the girl looked suspiciously at me, "Stay away from black or dark brown. You'd look pretty in reds and pinks." I looked at Daphne Greengrass. "Greens and blues, for you." Then, I looked at Tracy Davis. "Purples, reds, and some shades of gold or yellow, for you Davis."

I started to walk away. "G-Grey," Greengrass called. I turned around, raising an eyebrow. "I've seen the way you dress… think you could help me out for the ball? I'm going with Blaise." She said, pointing to the mocha-skinned boy. He was actually rather hot… I shook those thoughts away, feeling a bit guilty as my eyes travelled to the back of Harry's messy head of hair.

"Sure," I agreed, "I could take all three of you…if you wanted, of course." I shrugged. Very hesitantly, Parkinson and Davis nodded. As I hurried up to Hermione, I heard them talking behind me.

"What the _hell_, Daphne?" Parkinson hissed.

"What? You've seen the way she dresses on the weekends, she's bloody gorgeous!" Greengrass said back. I smirked.

"So? She's a bloody _Gryffindor_! And she's dating Potter, at that!" Parkinson argued. Technically, Harry and I weren't officially dating, but I let that go.

"What does her dating Potter have to do with her style? _Excuse me_, for wanting to look nice for the Ball!"

"Fine, but if she has you looking like a bloody hag, don't come crying to me!"

Class was very interesting after that. It seemed that in the interest of remaining invited to my party, I'd put it on the invites that anyone could be _uninvited_, both the Lions and the Snakes had called a temporary truce. Hagrid had been dumbfounded at the distinct lack of arguing or threats flying between us. And for once, the class ended rather peacefully.

"Greengrass, Parkinson, Davis!" I called, before our classes separated for lunch. The three girls paused while the Slytherins walked a little ahead of us, and the Gryffindors walked a little behind us, creating a sort of neutral zone.

"What have you three got after lunch?" I asked, as we walked slowly.

"A double free-period, why?" Parkinson asked, still suspicious.

I rolled my eyes. "Meet me in the entrance hall fifteen minutes after lunch ends, you can tell Malfoy or whoever that you'll be with me, but don't bring them and don't be seen by the professors." I instructed.

Puzzled, the three girls agreed and hurried to catch up with their house mates, while I slowed down until the trio caught up to me. "What was that about?" Harry asked.

"They asked me to help dress them for the ball. Greengrass said she noticed and liked my style, and she basically dragged Parkinson and Davis along. Davis is a quiet sort, easily forgotten about, but she observes everything, and Greengrass seems like a more reserved mix between Lavender and Ginny, which is weird. Anyway, I'm taking them dress shopping during our free period. So while I'm gone, Harry and Hermione, make sure Ron runs his full laps around the track and continue catching him up on spell's and stuff that I've taught you." I said.

"Is that safe? Going off with those three?" Ron asked, as we entered the school. I snorted.

"The three of them couldn't take me at once, so yes, I'll be perfectly safe. You should be worried about their safety, if they annoy me. Greengrass and Davis don't seem so bad, but there's just something so… annoying about Parkinson…" The trio laughed and agreed.

After lunch, I said goodbye to the trio and walked slowly to the entrance hall, making sure I wasn't seen by anyone. By the time I got there, the three girls were waiting. "I told you she wasn't coming, Daphne!" Parkinson hissed.

I stepped fully into the entrance hall. "_She_ is already here." I said.

Greengrass grinned smugly at Parkinson, who flushed. As usual, Davis simply stood back and watched, though she was obviously amused and use to their bickering. I pulled out my wand as I approached them, and their hands automatically flew to their pockets. I smirked, they should be wary.

"Calm down, geez, I'm just going to cast the disillusionment charm on you until we get out of the gates." I said, rolling my eyes.

"We're leaving grounds?" Parkinson asked, suspicious as ever.

"Do you _want_ to shop at Gladrags?" I asked, a bit snottily.

As expected, Parkinson looked offended. "Alright then, we're going to Twilfit & Tattings, where I got dresses with my friends." I informed her.

"Fine." She spat.

I tapped each of them on the head, and said the charm, watching as they slowly disappeared. I didn't bother to put the charm on myself as I opened the front door, waited for them to pass, and closed it behind me.

"You're not worried about behind seen?" Greengrass asked from my right. I sniffed the air, letting their scents come to me. Parkinson was on my left, Davis was on her left.

"Remember what I said about my family that day in Care of Magical Creatures?" I said. That was answer enough.

We walked until we were just outside the gates. Once again, I conjured a length of rope, and tapped it. "_Portus._" I whispered. Immediately, it glowed blue.

"You can make a portkey?" Parkinson gasped, despite herself. I smirked.

"Obviously, now grab on, it's password activated." Following directions, we were soon outside of the same shop I had taken my friends to the other day.

I canceled the spells on the girls as well walked in.

"Back so soon, Gia? And with different friends?" Twil asked, coming from around the check-out counter.

We all grimaced at the word _friends_, but let it go. "Yeah, for the same Ball; This is Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, and Tracy Davis." I introduced.

Twil nodded. "All three of your mothers come in here quite often," she said.

Wanting to get this over with, I pulled the girls over to the dresses, where they started looking. "I'll be starting with you, Daphne." I called absently, looking through the various shades of blue and green.

Within five minutes, I found a beautiful, seafoam green tulle dress that I knew would look great with Greengrass's eyes. I handed it to her. "Go try that on." I ordered.

Not even bristling, Greengrass did as she was told. I was aware that Parkinson and Davis were both watching me closely, and it was rather annoying. A few minutes later, Greengrass emerged from the dressing room in the dress, and judging from the eye popping of Parkinson and the smile on Davis's face, they approved.

"You look beautiful Greengrass, Zabini won't know what to do with himself." I complimented.

Greengrass stared at herself in the mirror, smiling more than I'd ever seen her smile all year. The dress truly did make her sea green eyes pop even more. I hummed and looked at her a minute before waving my wand. Instantly, her mid-back length shiny, obsidian hair twisted into a curly, half-up, half-down hairstyle. She looked stunning.

"I have a necklace and earrings that would go great with that dress," I said calmly, "consider it a Christmas gift."

To all of our shock, Greengrass pulled me into a quick hug before letting go. "That never happened." She said.

"Of course not," I said. I turned to the other two girls. "Who's next?"

Davis stepped forward, and stood perfectly still and unflinching, like Luna, as I stared at her. Clapping my hands, I ran over to the dresses I had seen, remembering one that had caught my eye. I found it and handed it to Davis. "Here," I said.

It was a beautiful, short, gold sequin dress with layers of shimmery gold lace. Davis tried it on and returned from the dressing looking as though she were on the cover of Witch Weekly. "Thank you, Grey!" she squealed.

I was shocked. I think it was the first time I'd heard her speak, so I just nodded. Examining her plain, brown hair, I waved my wand, giving it caramel highlights, while giving it a sort of vintage, wavy-curled look. She looked like one of those movie stars from a decade or two ago, and she looked amazing. "Out of curiosity, who are you going with?" I asked.

Davis blushed. "I'm going with Theo." She said.

"Nott?" I asked. She nodded. "Good choices, both of you. Zabini and Nott are cute."

Both girls blushed and I turned, almost predatorily, to Parkinson. "I thought you were dating Potter?" she asked.

"Not officially," I said. "And I'm going to take a _wild_ guess, and assume you're going to the Ball with Malfoy?"

She stuck out her chin slightly. "Yes," she said.

"Good," I smirked, "I'm going to have a fun time breaking him."

Suddenly, Parkinson and I had matching smirks. It was a scary sight.

Turns out, Parkinson was even more difficult than I'd already thought she'd be. It took almost the rest of the time we had for our double free-period to find her a dress. I'd picked up at least a dozen beautiful dresses, but she'd vetoed them all. _Finally_, when we'd only had fifteen minutes to get back in time for dinner, I found the perfect dress.

It was a short, strapless, hot pink dress with a silver beaded waist and bust. It so _Parkinson_ and it was everything Parkinson had wanted, and when she came out of the dressing room, I grudgingly admitted that she did look beautiful. "If McGonagall sees how short that dress is, she's going to flip." Greengrass pointed out. "I don't think Snape would be too thrilled either."

I lengthened it to a few inches above her knees, and it looked better that way. We checked out, the girls buying their own things, and we portkeyed back to Hogwarts, where we were about to separate in the entrance hall. "All three of you are getting dressed with me and my three girls before the Ball, I want to do your hair, make-up, and give you your Christmas present jewelry." I said.

The three girls agreed and thanked me. "I was…wrong about you, Grey." Parkinson muttered before they left.

Wondering at what the world was coming to, I headed up to East Tower, where Luna was waiting in the common room for the others to finish showering off their training. When the three emerged, and saw me, they smiled.

"So, how did it go?" Hermione asked as we left the Tower.

"Yeah, did you at least curse Parkinson?" Ron asked hopefully. I laughed.

"It went surprisingly well, and no Ron, I didn't curse Parkinson. Greengrass and Davis are pretty normal actually, though Parkinson is still rather annoying." I said, "But they'll be preparing for the ball with us, Hermione, so I can help with their hair, and makeup, and stuff."

Though Hermione and Luna appeared ok with that, the boys didn't, but they were, of course, ignored. Dinner went normal, and I grinned at noticing that my party was still very much the talk of the school. For the first time in years, I couldn't wait for my birthday to come around.


	21. The 'Us' Part

_**A/N: This is author's note is actually a short response to one of my loyal readers, Mr. T; As to your inquiry about Harry and Gia's relationship, note Pansy's comment about them dating in the previous chapter, and how Gia responds. As for Viktor, he knew that Gia would reject his offer, but he still held a tad bit of hope. He couldn't simply give up without trying, regardless of Harry and Gia's obvious relationship. Also, trust me when I say that their relationship will reach a higher point in later chapters that I've already written out. I hope this helps a bit.**_

_**~Belle P**_

_**A/N 2: It's two o'clock in the morning where I am. I'm currently on Christmas break, and I'm bored. I'm also writing Chapter Thirty-Three, which is the last chapter before the Third Task. I decided to post a few chapters for those of you who can't sleep, like me. Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_Though Hermione and Luna appeared ok with that, the boys didn't, but they were, of course, ignored. Dinner went normal, and I grinned at noticing that my party was still very much the talk of the school. For the first time in years, I couldn't wait for my birthday to come around._

_**Chapter Twenty-One**_

The last week before break was rather loud and boisterous as it progressed. And though some teachers, like Flitwick, allowed us to relax, others (McGonagall, Moody, and Snape) did no such thing, and kept us working to the last second. That week was also filled with me taking various people in our group (the trio, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and even Terry) off grounds to do bits of Christmas shopping. We'd disappear during breaks and free periods, and would turn up in time for class and meals. To my utter delight, I got everyone accounted for in the way of Christmas gifts, and all of their gifts were already wrapped and hidden in my trunk. It seemed that, thanks to me, everyone else got their Christmas shopping finished as well.

It was after lessons had ended on the last day of term, and Hermione, Luna, the boys and I were hanging out in our common room in East Tower, when my eyes widened in horror. "Dammit! Ron, _please_ tell me you already wrote your family telling them the plan?" I asked desperately.

Ron's face flushed and he scratched the back of his head. I groaned. "I'm sorry Gia, I thought you would've done that already." He apologized.

I stood up and waved his apology away. "We have a week before Christmas, but everyone's supposed to be at my house in two days!" My mind raced with ideas and I finally came up with a plan. "Alright, Ron, I'm taking you and your siblings home today. It's your job to get your family ready to go in the next two days. Hermione, I'm taking you home so that you can help your parents pack and stuff. Luna, the same with you and your dad; Harry and I will go on ahead to my home to get everything ready, and in two days we'll be coming around to each of your houses to get you." I said.

"But we haven't even packed yet!" Hermione pointed out.

Suddenly feeling a bit of panic, I sighed as Harry immediately began to rub soothing circles into my palms. "Gia, love, you're brilliant and we'll get everything done in time. Please, just relax and we'll get through this." He said.

Taking a calming breath, I blew it out and smiled slightly. "Thanks, and you're right." I waved my wand and the doors to everyone's rooms flew open and their trunks flew out and landed in front of each respective person. We watched as clothes, items, and other things flew and fit themselves neatly into each trunk, closed, and locked itself. "Great, you're all packed, are you ready to go?" I said, smirking.

"What about Ginny and the twins?" Ron asked. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"She's been packed for the past three days, and she threatened the twins into packing." I teased, causing the boy to flush.

Shrinking their trunks, we all left East Tower and headed to Gryffindor Tower. We entered the empty common room, and saw Ginny and the twins waiting by the fire, their trunks all shrunken and ready. Chatting amicably, we headed down to the entrance hall, down the sloping grounds and out of the gates where I conjured a rope. "Ginny, since I think you're the smartest of these idiots," I said, laughing at the twins' and Ron's expressions, "I want you to focus on just outside the Burrow while I make this."

Ginny nodded and held onto the rope. "_Portus._" I said. It glowed blue. "That should be good, alright you lot, grab on and _don't _let go." I instructed. Once everyone was ready, I activated the portkey and we were whisked away.

My first sight of the Burrow immediately made me fall in love with it. Yes, I was used to and loved the extravagant lifestyle I lived, but there was something innately homey about the lopsided house that was undoubtedly held together by magic. The Weasley children led Harry, Hermione, Luna, and I up to the house and inside.

"Mum, Dad, we're home!" Ginny called.

Immediately, a short, plump red-haired woman bustled into the room and began to fuss over her children. I smiled and ignored the clench in my chest. She practically radiated motherly love. I felt Harry's hand find mine and knew he felt the same. "Mum, _Mum,_" Ron groaned as his mother enveloped him in a tight hug, though we could all see the warm smile on his face.

"You're father's still at work, but oh dear Ronald, you've grown so much in just a few months!" she gushed. We giggled, and inevitably drew Mrs. Weasleys attention.

She quickly pulled Harry and Hermione into hugs as well, fussing over them and making them blush, and then she looked at me with a warm smile that melted my entire body. "Oh! You must be Gia; my you are a beautiful young lady. Come here, dear!" she urged. And suddenly, I found myself swept up in motherly love, and I soaked up as much as I could.

When we broke apart, I felt warm and welcome. "My children have been writing me all term, telling me so many great things about you, dear." Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, where are my manners? Please, sit, I can whip up a meal."

I smiled. "Normally, I would love to Mrs. Weasley, and I appreciate the offer, but we came to drop off Ron, Ginny, and the twins. I also meant to send a letter weeks ago," I grimaced, "but I've invited your entire family to my house for Christmas."

Mrs. Weasley's face brightened and she nodded. "Yes, Ginny wrote to me about that! That's such a kind offer Gia, are you sure there's enough room?"

I waved my hand. "Of course; Luna and her dad, along with Hermione and her parents, and Harry will all be there too. It'll be my first real family Christmas." That prompted Mrs. Weasley to pull me into another hug and bemoan the tragedies of kids like Harry and me, who needed love and family.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley. Harry and I will be back on Sunday to get you all, so please be packed and ready by then." I said, standing up. After a few more exchanged words and hugs with the Weasleys, before Harry, Hermione and I walked Luna across Ottery St. Catchpole to her home.

"Mrs. Weasley seems so…motherly and caring." I said softly.

The other three smiled at me and nodded. "Yeah, she's always been like that to anyone she meets." Hermione said.

"She's a wonderful woman," Luna piped up, "She took real good care of Daddy and I after Mum died, making sure we ate and such."

Harry simply smiled softly and nodded. Within ten minutes, we arrived at the Rookery, Luna's home, which I found was aptly named, as it looked scarily similar to the chess piece. We went through a much quieter, yet just as interesting meeting with Xenophilius Lovegood, and he also agreed to join us for the hols.

Finally, I redirected the portkey to Hermione's home in the muggle world, and it turns out that she lived amongst, not the wealthiest people, but definitely the higher ups, what with her parents being successful dentists. Upon entering the large yet cozy house, Hermione led us into the living room.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione exclaimed happily.

Her parents immediately stood up from their seats and pulled their daughter and only child into a loving embrace. "Hermione dear," her mother said, "we've missed you so much!"

"She's right squirt, and you've grown so much, and as beautiful as ever!" said her dad, sounding rather amusingly like Mrs. Weasley.

"Mum, Dad, these are my friends, Harry Potter and Gia Grey." Hermione said, introducing us.

"Welcome to our home, Harry, Gia. My name is Jane, and this is my husband, Dan." Jane said. We shook hands and sat down in the living room, relaxing for a minute. I quickly studied Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and saw that Hermione was a perfect blend of them both. She had her mother's figure and classical features, yet her father's hair and warm brown eyes. They were obviously a rather close-knit and loving family, and I felt content knowing my best friends came from happy homes.

"Hermione has told us so much about you both, though perhaps more about Harry, seeing as she knew him longer." Jane said, starting the conversation.

"Yes ma'am, I've only just started at Hogwarts this year." I said. "But the main reason we're here is to invite you all to join us for Christmas at my house."

Jane and Dan smiled softly. "Yes, Hermione told us about your…arrangements. It's very nice dear, and we're excited."

I smiled mysteriously. "Do you, by any chance, know how to ski or snowboard?" I asked. Their eyes lit up.

"Oh yes, we've been many times on vacations to the Alps and such!" Dan said excitedly.

"That's great; make sure you pack your gear and such. I can guarantee that you'll have a grand time. It's been a pleasure meeting you both, but I'm afraid that Harry and I have to go get the house ready. We'll be back on Sunday to get you, though." I said, standing up. We said our goodbyes, and Harry and I finally arrived at my home.

I looked at Harry's stunned face, and burst into giggles. "_This_ is your house?" he asked incredulously.

I snorted. "Hardly," I said, "this is just where I vacation in the winter."

Harry stared from me to the house in stunned amazement. The house itself was actually not a house at all; it was practically its own snow resort. And actually, it use to be public snow resort until my family bought it, warded it up completely, and renovated it as a vacation home. There was one huge building that made three sides of a square, with wooden wraparound porches, dozens of tall glass windows and patios, and different wings. It was in an enormous clearing in a large forest nestled in the Alps. It was all completely blanketed in a deep layer of fresh snow, and judging from the sky, it would snow again that night.

Having appeared on a stone path that led to the front courtyard, we walked up the porch and into the front hall. We were immediately bathed in cozy warmth from one of the many fireplaces, and as we hung our cloaks on the coat rack, I called out, "Prim! Winky!"

Instantly, the two house-elves appeared, curtsied, and beamed up at me. I smiled at seeing how obviously happy Winky was working under Prim, and we greeted them. "The place looks great you two, would you mind starting dinner while I give Harry the tour? After dinner, we'll be decorating, if you two would like to help?"

"Of course, Mistress Gia!" both elves squeaked before popping away.

"Are you over your stunned silence yet, Harry?" I teased, looking over at him. He just smiled and gave me a quick kiss. We automatically linked hands as I began to lead Harry through the house.

"The bottom floor has the foyer we just arrived in, the kitchens, the main living room, the formal dining room, the informal dining room, and the outside patio." I said, showing Harry each room as I named it. There was mostly wood and brick around, with loads of granite surfaces, large fireplaces, cozy furniture, and open rooms with large windows.

"And this, is a room specifically built for Christmas." I said, taking Harry to the very center of the bottom floor. There was a ballroom sized room, with a high-domed ceiling, and large windows that looked out to the forest. There were plenty of comfy couches and chairs for many people, and in the center, was a huge empty space.

"It's where we spent Christmas," I said softly, gazing into the room, "back when I still had my parents. The tree goes in the empty space there, and we'd sit around it, opening presents."

Harry said nothing, but I could tell that he appreciated what it represented. I took him down a back hallway behind the informal dining room, and led him up the flight of stairs.

"The next floor is more for inside entertainment," I said, taking Harry to the East Wing. "This floor has a fully equipped muggle entertainment room with video games, a huge plasma screen TV, and the room off to the side there is a rather large home theater." To my amusement, Harry seemed more excited about the cinema-style snack bar completely filled with muggle and wizarding snacks and treats. That floor was also completely filled with large, wide comfy couches, chairs, beanbags, and all sorts of places to recline and relax while doing some sort of activity.

"On the other side of this floor," I said, leading Harry back into the West Wing "is the magical training room and this version of the family library."

"This version?" Harry asked. I nodded.

"We have a library at each property, they're mostly the same except for the main library back where I live year around, it's the biggest." I explained. Harry grinned.

"Good luck trying to drag Hermione out of here." He joked.

I groaned. "Dammit."

Leading Harry up the stairs again to the third floor, I led him through many hallways and various lounging and living rooms. "This floor is completely filled with top of the line guestrooms. This whole place is made for comfort and relaxation, which is why it has like, a million living rooms." I said, shaking my head with a grin. "Obviously, I don't have guests so it'll be fun to put these rooms to good use, and there's more than enough room when I have my party here in two weeks."

Finally, I took Harry up to the top floor, my floor. "This floor has the master suite, which is mine, and then it has a suite almost identical to it, but slightly smaller. It has yet another huge living room, and you can see, another plasma screen TV. It should be interesting to have a bunch of purebloods around all of this muggle technology." I wondered.

Harry snorted. "Just wait until your birthday party, when people like Malfoy will be here." We stared at other and burst into laughter so hard, we felt it ache in our guts. When we stopped, I took Harry through my suite and out onto a long, wide patio filled with padded, lawn chairs, each in pairs, with one on either side of a small table that held a large umbrella.

"And this," I said grandly, "is my favorite place in the entire house. Even though each floor has a patio like this, though theirs lead out from the living room, this one has the best view. The view is also amazing from the pitch."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Pitch?"

I nodded. "There's a quidditch pitch just beyond those trees." I said, pointing. "Do you see the break there?" Harry nodded. "That's it."

But the patio did have the best view, and I smiled wistfully as Harry and leaned on the wooden banister that wrapped around the entire patio. We had a wide, completely unobstructed view of now only the huge forest, but especially the huge mountains, all covered in pure white snow.

Harry sighed. "This is beautiful Gia," he said softly, "and bound to be the best Christmas ever." I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I hope so."

We stood like that, simply gazing serenely out at the mountains and forest, until Prim popped in to tell us that dinner was ready. I guided Harry back down to the bottom floor, and into the large kitchen. We sat at the granite-topped island in the middle, and smiled as Winky served us both huge bowls of steaming beef stew along with buttered bread rolls that set our mouths watering. We thanked them and began to eat.

"This place is so… peaceful." Harry said. "It has its own magic about it and it's so cozy, even with its grandeur."

I nodded with a smile. "Of course, you'll have to get use to the _grandeur_, Harry." I said.

He laughed. "Yeah, I suppose so."

After dinner, Harry and I spent hours going around the outside and inside of the entire property, with the help of Winky and Prim, using magic to decorate. Luckily, we finished the outside before it got too dark, and continued inside until we had finished around eleven that night. When it had gotten truly dark, I activated the wards officially, and they went up full force. Prim and Winky had made sure every door and window was locked and secured, and had covered all of them with tasteful black curtains.

Too tired to do anything else besides take a quick, hot shower, Harry and I climbed into bed, and were immediately asleep.

The next morning, I awoke slowly and blinked around, wondering why I wasn't in East Tower. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I immediately recognized my vacation room and a large smile bloomed on my face. Sitting up, I stretched and looked down at Harry's face. He had just opened his large green eyes, and he smiled up at me.

"Good morning love," he murmured. I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss.

"Morning, come on, get up!" I yelped and laughed as Harry groaned and grabbed me around my waist, pulling me back down onto the bed. He rolled us over until he was practically lying on top of me, but he was careful not to put all of his weight on me. "Harry!" I whined, laughing.

"No," he groaned, "I don't want to get up yet, Gia. We're on holiday!"

My eyes sparkled as I gazed up at him, and he leaned down, pulling me into a kiss. Pulling back, I smirked. "If you don't get up you won't be getting another kiss until term starts back up."

Harry's eyes narrowed challengingly. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

I snorted. "You want to bet your lips on that?"

We glared mockingly at each other, before Harry groaned dramatically and rolled off of me, and onto his feet. I stood up and showed Harry to my walk-in closet where our things were already hung up and put away. "Do you have one of these at _every_ property?" Harry asked as we dressed for the day.

I laughed. "Of course."

That day, Harry and I wore black jeans, crew neck sweaters and boots. After we ate breakfast in the kitchens, I dragged Harry outside. "We don't even have coats on!" he protested.

I looked at him funny. "Are you cold, Harry?"

He waved his arms experimentally, and I laughed outright at that. "No," he said slowly, wonder coloring his voice.

I nodded. "The property has warming charms built into the wards; that's why I told everyone that they could dress cold or warm for my party. But once we step out of the wards, we'd be bloody freezing. Luckily, the forest is in the wards." I said.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "The forest?"

"Yepp, we need a Christmas tree, don't we?" I stated as if it should've been obvious.

Harry shrugged. "The Dursleys always got those little silver, plastic trees."

I wrinkled my nose. "How…tacky…" I muttered, before shaking my head firmly. "But we're going to celebrate Christmas the _right _way, and that means picking out a very _real_ tree from this forest."

"How are we going to get it down?" Harry asked.

"We've got wands don't we?" I said.

"We…" he looked at me, "well _I_ am not allowed to do magic outside of school."

I grinned and tapped his nose. "It's all in the wards. Anyone can do magic here, as long as it's not purposefully harmful to the residents."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You could've told me that before I left my wand in the house." He groaned.

I lazily flicked my wand, and a second later, Harry's wand came zooming through the air and I plucked it out of the air, handing it to Harry. "There you go, _darling_." He gently, playfully shoved my shoulder.

"Shut up," he muttered as we entered the forest. I stuck my tongue out at him.

Throughout the forest, a path had been made and we followed that, examining the huge pines and firs, all dusted in snow. The path had been covered in snow, but I knew this forest as well as I knew myself, and I guided Harry around, stepping off the path several times.

"And that," I said, pointing to a tree marked with a bright red ribbon tied around one of its branches, "is where I pretended I was a ninja, and climbed to the top, and promptly fell off and broke my leg."

Harry raised his eyebrows at me. "How did you get back to the house?"

I shrugged. "That's the mystery, right? I passed out, and when I woke up, I was on the porch. I never found out, to this day, how that happened. No one else should've been able to get through the wards, so I chalked it up to accidental magic, but I never knew for sure." I said, gazing at the tree distantly.

Harry grinned softly. "Maybe you have a guardian angel out here, somewhere." He said.

I smiled at him. "Maybe,"

We wandered around the forest, until I eventually led us to the side of one of the mountains. There was a huge waterfall that crashed down into a lake, which wound all throughout the mountains. We had found one of the smaller, yet still large, clearings in the forest, and stared at the frozen waterfall.

"It's so interesting, how it's like…frozen in action like that." Harry said.

I nodded. "I know what you mean. At certain parts of the year, though still cold, it gets warm enough that it melts and it's a real waterfall, not just this frozen glacier." I sighed as another memory popped up. "I almost drowned here once," I started.

Harry's eyes widened. "What? How?"

I walked up to the edge of the large pool of water, and stared down at its frozen surface…but I knew better now. "I was young, perhaps eight or nine, and I thought it'd be fun to walk on the ice. I was stupid, didn't see that it wasn't completely frozen, and I fell through. I was trapped…"

Harry came up behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned my head back on his chest. "It's almost the same as what happened in the forest. I passed out, I was drowning, I was freezing, and someone or some_thing_ saved me. But it was different this time," I said, drawing on the memory, "I was awake enough at one point to see her slip back into the water."

"Her?" I couldn't see his face, but I could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Yeah, I only saw her tail though, and I was young, so I thought she was a mermaid. But as I got older, I did research and I figured that she was a water nymph." I said.

"I thought those were just myths." Harry said.

"I thought so too, until one saved my life. I'd read that they like music, and so every Christmas since I could do controlled magic, I'd bring a harp out here and charm it to play for a few days. Whenever I come back for it, they're always gone, so I figure they take them." I explained.

"You think there's more than one?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Why would she live here alone? I figured that if a water nymph lived here, why not a wood nymph? Maybe that's…"

"What brought you back to the house, when you broke your leg?" Harry supplied. I nodded. "Well, there's no reason we shouldn't continue your tradition. How about we come out here on Christmas Eve and do it?"

I smiled up at Harry. "That'd be nice."

I was happy with my decision to share a bit of my childhood with Harry, and as we started to leave the clearing, I swore I heard faint laughter, though it was quickly lost in the wind.

We wandered back through the forest, and finally, on the way back to the house, we found the perfect tree. It was a dark green spruce tree, at least twenty feet tall, and would fit perfectly in the Christmas Room, as I called it. I used a spell to steady it and keep it upright, as Harry and I used cutting charms to cut it down. Once we had cut through the trunk, we both used overpowered levitating charms to bring it to the courtyard in front of the house. From there, I called Winky and Prim.

"Yes, Mistress Gia?" They asked in unison, smiling happily.

"Can you two take this to the Christmas Room, and set it up in its usual place? You two can help Harry and me decorate it when you're done." I said.

Clearly ecstatic, the two elves popped away, taking the huge tree with it, and Harry and I linked hands as we wandered lazily up the wide, wooden front steps, onto the porch, and into the house. We arrived in the Christmas Room as Prim and Winky were steadying it magically into the floor. Once that was done, I summoned over a dozen boxes filled with ornaments, all of which floated lazily from a large closet in the corner of the room.

"Aww, what's this?" Harry cooed teasingly.

I looked over my shoulder and groaned.

Harry had found the box with ornaments my parents had used when I was little. Going over to him, I gently took the little gingerbread man-shaped picture frame from Harry, and gazed down at the picture. Thanks to preservation charms, it was still clear and hadn't faded. It was a picture of me, back when I was five years old. My hair was still bright red, my eyes still amber, and I was smiling largely at the camera. I smiled softly. I had lost one of my front teeth back then, and had insisted that the tooth fairy bring me extra candy on Christmas.

My smile turned sad as I saw my mother in the background, laughing at whatever my father was doing to make me smile for the picture. "That's me, obviously," I said to Harry. "I was five. And that's my mom."

"She's beautiful," Harry murmured, pulling me down into his lap, and tucking my head into his neck.

"Yeah, she was, wasn't she?"

My mother truly was a ray of sunshine; we were almost twins. We had the same bright red hair, the same features, but while her eyes were hazel, I got my amber eyes from my father, who had black hair. My mother had the most wonderfully musical laugh, my father's had been deep and warm. I sighed and pulled the box towards Harry and I. We were sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the couches.

Suddenly, we found ourselves going through the box, pulling out dozens of old pictures, mostly of me, a lot of them containing my parents, and to my delight, a bunch of them contained a younger Prim. I told Harry the stories behind most of the pictures, remembering each one, and treasuring them all.

"I haven't seen these in years…" I said softly, putting the last picture back in the box.

"Then, I think we should put them on the tree." Harry suggested. "Everyone else will have their families here, so it's only right that you have yours here, in some way, as well."

I smiled and kissed Harry. "By that same token, I say we make new ornament frames and put pictures of your parents on the tree too. We don't have to take them out of your album, but we could make copies so the originals don't get ruined somehow."

Harry smiled sadly. "I'd like that, and I think they would too."

And so, for the next few hours, we decorated the tree with dozens and dozens of ornaments, tinsel, lights, garlands, and charmed icicles, mixing in my pictures along with Harry's. He'd dug out pictures of himself as a baby, with his parents, Remus, and Sirius. We used levitating charms to get to the higher parts of the tree, wherever Harry and I couldn't reach.

When we'd finished decorating, I went over to an open window, and sent out a golden flare into the air. "What was that for?" Harry asked. I smiled mysteriously at him.

A minute later, a stream of tiny, sparkling fairies flew into through the window and began zooming around the room before settling on the tree, twinkling all the while. "Wizarding tradition," I said to Harry. "The flare was a signal to the fairies in the forest. They love being admired on a Christmas, so they don't mind being put on display."

"They're beautiful," Harry said, peering at the little fairies. The little flirts giggled and batted their tiny eyelashes at Harry, who blushed and stepped back, causing me to laugh outright at him.

"Winky," I said, smiling, "As the newest member of our little family, I say you put the star on top of the tree."

Immediately, her large round eyes filled with tears. "Mistress Gia would like Winky to do the honors?" She asked, her voice full of wonder and amazement.

"Of course," I said.

Winky squealed happily, and gently lifted the huge, ancient glass seven-pointed star out of its velvet lined box and popped to the top of the tree. "That star has been in my family for centuries," I said to Harry. We watched as Winky, very carefully, settled it at the top of the tree, and secured it with a bit of magic. When she came back down to the floor, I waved my wand and the tree lit up, and the fairies began to fly up and down the tree, creating their own little routines and patterns.

"I swear they spend all year coming up with a pattern to do." I laughed, leaning back against Harry's chest again as he held me. "It truly feels like Christmas."

"Yes, it does. Christmas at Hogwarts is great, but this is much more…family-like." Harry said. I nodded, before smiling excited and clapping my hands.

"Now, it's time for one of the best parts!" I exclaimed. Harry amusedly raised an eyebrow. "We have to put our gifts under the tree, of course!"

Laughing, Harry and I ran up to our room, grabbed our trunks, and ran back down to the Christmas Room. Enlarging them, we both dumped out huge piles of gifts, all beautifully wrapped in colorful and bright wrapping paper. We smiled at each other knowingly. "Prim and Winky?" we asked, nodding at each other before laughing.

"They really did a great job wrapping these." I said, placing my pile under the tree.

"Yeah, and they were smart to give them mysterious boxes so you can't tell what's inside." Harry agreed as we he placed his own around mine. Stepping back, we smiled at the representation of our first family Christmas since we were little kids. "Get use to this Harry," I said contently, "this is us, every year."

Harry kissed my head. "I can get use to this, Gia, especially the _us_ part."


	22. A Very Happy Sunday

_Previous Chapter:_

_Laughing, Harry and I ran up to our room, grabbed our trunks, and ran back down to the Christmas Room. Enlarging them, we both dumped out huge piles of gifts, all beautifully wrapped in colorful and bright wrapping paper. We smiled at each other knowingly. "Prim and Winky?" we asked, nodding at each other before laughing._

"_They really did a great job wrapping these." I said, placing my pile under the tree._

"_Yeah, and they were smart to give them mysterious boxes so you can't tell what's inside." Harry agreed as we he placed his own around mine. Stepping back, we smiled at the representation of our first family Christmas since we were little kids. "Get use to this Harry," I said contently, "this is us, every year."_

_Harry kissed my head. "I can get use to this, Gia, especially the us part."_

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

That night, Harry and I simply relaxed, ate snacks, and watched movies. We lounged in the living on the top floor in front of the roaring fire, and simply lied in each other's arms, utterly content with doing nothing, as long as we were together. We fell asleep on the couch, and we were still rather comfortable, and we woke up early Sunday morning. Knowing the importance of the day, Harry allowed me to get up and pull him up. We showered and dressed similarly to the day before, matching by both wearing red tops and black bottoms.

"Who should we get first?" I asked as Harry and I walked down to the courtyard.

"I'd say Hermione and her parents, then we can bring them back here, show them their rooms, and then we can get the Weasleys and Lovegoods at the same time." Harry suggested.

Plan decided, we portkeyed to Hampstead, where Hermione and her parents lived. We arrived tactically in their backyard, and walked around to the front door. I rung the doorbell and within seconds, Hermione flung open the door and grabbed the both of us in tight hugs.

"Hermione," we whined, laughing and hugging her back. When we broke apart, we saw that Hermione's eyes were sparkling with excitement and she was already dressed.

"Let me guess, you've been up since some ungodly hour of the morning, and forced your poor parents to get up and wait for us, didn't you?" I asked, teasing. Hermione's blush was answer enough.

"You're guess would be dead on, Gia." Dan Granger laughed, coming to stand behind his daughter. He too, was smiling and dressed. "Squirt here woke us up before the sun had time to settle in the sky, she's been alternating between checking out the windows and pacing."

Hermione rolled her eyes, grinning. "Dad," she said, dragging out the vowel. We laughed as Jane Granger came down the stairs, still brushing her hair. I could see that they had suitcases waiting in the front hall.

"What are we laughing about?" Jane asked.

"Hermione's wake up call," Dan supplied. Jane snorted as Hermione groaned. Harry and I smiled at each other, watching the little family interact.

"Are we ready to go?" Dan asked. Jane and Hermione nodded. "How are we getting to your…house." He asked.

"Portkey, it's the quickest way to transport a lot of people and items at one time." I supplied. Dan's face lit up.

"Oh Hermione's told us all about that. But do you all really ride broomsticks?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. I laughed.

"Yes, we do, and it's amazing." I smiled suddenly. "Some people think that non-magical people can't ride brooms like they can't use wands, but it's different. With wands, the magic is in the person. But with a broom, the magic, what makes it fly, is in the actual broom. I have a lot of extras. Would you like to learn?"

Dan looked infinitely more excited about flying a broom than Hermione had been about us arriving. "Really? That sounds great! Are you lot ready to go, then?" Dan said, practically vibrating.

Laughing, I held out the usual length of rope, and had everyone grab on with one hand, and grab a bag with the other. "This will feel rather odd, I imagine, and _please_ don't let go until your feet touch the ground. Ready?" I said. Getting nods all around, I activated the portkey and we were whisked away, appearing on the stone path.

To my surprise and Harry's slight annoyance, all three Grangers landed rather easily, while he still fell on his bum. Laughing, I helped him up. "Geez Harry, you really need to get the hang of that!"

Pointedly ignoring my teasing remark, we eyed the Grangers' reactions. Dropped jaws, popped eyes, stunned silence…check. "_This_ is your _house_?" All three Grangers said, incredulously, rather similar to Harry's reaction two days ago.

I laughed. "Hardly," I said, repeating the words I had said to Harry, "This is just where I vacation in the winter." I levitated their bags and led them into the house, placing their bags in the foyer.

"I'm afraid we've got other guests to pick up, so you'll have to wander about until we get back. We should be no longer than about fifteen…twenty minutes. Prim! Winky!"

The two house-elves popped in, startling Dan and Jane. "These are house-elves, and while most people treat them like slaves, Prim and Winky are family. If you need anything, call them and they can either get it for you, or show where you can get it yourself. Usually, technology doesn't work around magic, but because of the special wards around the property, we've got loads of electronics that you're all welcome to use." I said.

"How have you been, Winky?" Hermione asked, kneeling down to the little elf. Winky beamed up at her.

"Winky has been very happy with Mistress Gia, she has been taking great care of Winky, and letting Winky put the star on top of the Christmas tree! Mistress Gia is saying that Winky is family!" Winky squeaked.

Hermione beamed at me. "I told you I would treat her right, Hermione." I grumbled lightly. The girl pulled me into a quick hug.

"We have to go, but we'll be back soon, alright? When we get back, I'll give you lot a proper tour." And with that, Harry and I left again, reappearing outside the Burrow. Upon landing, we could immediately see that there was a flurry of activity going on inside in the house.

Grinning at each other, Harry and I walked up to the front door and knocked. There was a pause, and then Ginny threw open the door, smiling up at us. She looked back into the house. "It's Gia and Harry, hurry up you lot!" she yelled. She turned back to us, rolling her eyes.

"Fred and George set off a prank this morning, switched everyone's luggage up, and we've been trying to get everything repacked all morning." She explained.

"That's definitely Gred and Forge, for you." I laughed.

"Definitely," Harry and Ginny said in unison.

Ginny led us into the house, and we stood by the front door, watching as various Weasleys ran to and fro from rooms, stopping for a second to call out a greeting. Ginny seemed to be ready to go, and stood with us. Ron was next, and hugged me, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "The twins," he groaned as explanation.

"Ginny explained already," Harry said.

After precisely six minutes, I simply waved my wand and four trunks flew into the front hall, all open. Immediately, anything that was already in the trunks flew to the correct trunk and neatly arranged itself. Just like when I had packed up everyone's things back in East Tower, every Weasley's trunk was packed and secured within two minutes.

Six rather flustered Weasleys emerged, and upon spotting their neatly packed trunks, sighed in relief. "Who –" said an older Weasley, a sort of tooth earring in his ear. That'd be Bill, I figured, from Ron's description.

"I did," I said, "I figured you lot could use some help."

Bill eyed me appreciatively, though it was for more than just my smarts. I grinned. "You must be, Gia, then?" he asked.

I stepped forward, and he gave me a quick hug, something the Weasleys seemed use to. "Yes, and you're Bill, right?" He nodded.

A slightly shorter, more muscular Weasley stepped forward. "Charlie?" I guessed.

He smiled. "Ron did say you were smart," he said as he too hugged me.

"Oh Gia dear, I'm so sorry for the hectic start!" Mrs. Weasley said, pulling me into a tight, motherly hug that I immediately melted into.

I laughed easily as we broke apart. "It's no problem, Mrs. Weasley. It wasn't _your_ fault." I said, shooting a glare at the twins, who shrunk.

"Oh come on," Fred moaned.

"You know how," George said.

"Much we loathe order,"

"And neatness!" George finished.

I shook my head. "You two had better think twice before you set off a prank at my house. You _know_ I'm the brains behind your operation this year, and I won't hesitate to exact revenge!" I warned.

Bill and Charlie looked as though Christmas had indeed come early, Ron and Ginny were laughing, Harry was trying to glare at the twins and failing due to laughter, while Mrs. Weasley looked exasperated, and a man I assumed was Mr. Weasley laughed fondly. The twins looked properly chastised.

I lengthened the rope to accommodate them all, and we were once again whisked away to my place. We got almost identical reactions to the place, and I grinned at them.

"_This_," Ginny started.

"Is not where I live," I said, heading off her statement. Harry snorted. "It's just where I vacation in the winter. You're all free to wander and explore, but until I get back, please don't go beyond the courtyard. I don't you lot to get lost or something. Harry, you stay here and give them a tour while I go get Luna and her dad, alright?"

Harry nodded. "No problem love. You'll be right back, right?" he asked. I nodded. He gave me a quick kiss, and I gave a quick glance at the Weasleys.

Bill and Charlie stifled disappointed groans, their parents and the others simply smiled. I disappeared and reappeared at the Rookery, where Luna was sitting serenely on the front porch, the door behind her open. "Hey Luna!" I said, immediately happy at seeing the younger girl.

"Hello Gia," she said. I pulled her into a hug.

"Where's your dad?" I asked.

"He's putting the press into a stasis for the hols," Luna supplied. I nodded, and I made her laugh by explaining the meeting with the Weasleys a little while ago. By the time I was done, Luna's father had arrived at the front door, looking as bright as ever with his silvery blonde hair and brightly colored clothing.

I had expected someone rather eccentric from Ginny's description, but when I had spoken to Mr. Lovegood the previous day, he seemed rather normal. Death and depression can do that a person, I figured. "Hello Mr. Lovegood, are you two ready to go join the others?"

"Hello to you as well, Miss Grey." Mr. Lovegood said, "And yes, I do believe my Luna and I are ready to go." We arrived back at the house, and I wasn't too surprised that the two Lovegoods simply gazed serenely around at their surroundings. I led them inside, and called out.

"Grangers, Weasleys, Harry, we're back for good!" I yelled. Feeling around through the wards, I found that they were all in the main living room on the bottom floor. Guiding the Lovegoods, I led them to the living room where, to my utter amusement, Harry and the Grangers were trying to explain the TV to the Weasleys.

"Ah," Mr. Weasley said, obviously delighted, "so _this_ is how a… what is it called again?"

"A television, Mr. Weasley." I piped up.

Everyone looked up, and Ginny and Hermione pulled Luna into hugs, while Mr. Lovegood went to talk to the adults. "So, what have you guys seen yet?" I asked.

Bill snorted. "Nothing; as soon as dad saw the television, he made the Grangers explain it to him, and we've been in there the whole time."

I giggled and shook my head. "Well, then I guess I can give you all a proper tour then. Gather around, you lot!" I called. The adults walked over to the group of teenagers. I led them all on the same tour I had given Harry, and they all ooh'ed and ahh'd at the technology and, as Harry put it, _grandeur_ of it all. When we had finished, I brought them all onto the third floor and we stood at the end of a hallway with two doors on either side. It ended with a window at the end of the hall, and then another hall branched off around the corner on the right.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you two can take the suite on the left; Mr. and Mrs. Granger, you two have the suite on the right." I said. As I spoke, the blank golden plaque on each door changed and filled with the name of the room's residence, so no one would get confused.

"Suite?" Dan asked.

"This use to be a non-magical snow resort, but my family bought it, warded it, and changed it up. So, it's sort of like a hotel. Each suite has a main bedroom, a huge bathroom, closets, and a patio with a view." I explained.

Dan and Jane were the first to open the door to their suite, and everyone else peeked inside and gaped at the giant suite. "This is much better than any resort we've been to." Jane commented. I laughed lightly.

"Wait until the summertime," I said vaguely. "We'll let you get settled while I show everyone else their rooms." Dan and Jane disappeared into their room, Molly and Arthur doing the same with the room on the left. I led the rest around the corner, and they saw that it was a small hallway, with just one door at the end of it.

"Mr. Lovegood, I thought you'd appreciate this particular suite as it has a view over the forest, and you can usually see different creatures from the patio." I said. The man smiled at me, and entered his room, softly closing the door behind him, leaving all of us teenager together.

I grinned. "Now that the adults are gone, I can show you lot to our Wing."

"We have our own Wing?" Bill asked.

I nodded. "I figured you all want some freedom from under your parents for the hols, so you are all in the suites on the West Wing." I led them all to the other side of the house, on the same floor, and we ended up at a much, much large hallway with more rooms on either side.

"Bill, Charlie, Gred, Forge, and Ron, you five are on the left. I figured you two would want to share a room." I said to the twins, who nodded. "Ginny, Hermione, and Luna, you three are on the right. Each room has a spell on it so, unless invited, you can't enter." I said as an afterthought, obviously directed at the twins, who looked put out.

"Ruin our fun," Fred groaned.

"Why don't you." George added.

"Where are you two staying?" Hermione asked absently.

"We're on the top floor, the floor above this, in the master suite, which is where I usually sleep when I come here." I answered, ignoring Bill and Charlie's expressions.

"You lot can pack away your stuff, and I'll have Prim and Winky whip us up some lunch, then we can get to the fun stuff." I said.

"The fun stuff?" Ginny asked.

I nodded. "You'll see in after lunch."

As each person entered their room, Harry and I headed up the stairs to our room. "So, what do you think?" I asked.

Harry smiled. "It's nice to have everyone together." He said. I nodded in agreement. "But what _is_ the fun stuff?"

I laughed. "Well, Hermione's dad wants to learn flying, I'm sure Hermione and her mom will want to check out the library, Luna and her dad will most likely want to explore the forest, Mr. Weasley will probably be in heaven in any of the living rooms…" I said.

Harry laughed. "I get it, I get it… Everybody will be entertained doing _something_." I nodded.

"That's the plan."

Everyone gathered in the informal dining room for a deliciously thick beef stew that Prim and Winky had cooked. Loud conversation and laughter flew easily across the table, and it was easy to see that everyone was at ease with each other and having a good time. While the Weasleys explained everything magical to the Grangers, they did the same for the muggle world, explaining devices shown around the house, like the microwave.

"And you really can just pop it in there for a few minutes, and it comes out hot?" Molly asked Jane, utterly fascinated.

"Yes, that's right. It's much quicker than heating it up in the oven, or having to cook something new every night." Jane elaborated, introducing Molly to the wonderful world of leftovers.

After lunch, I decided to show Hermione and her mom to the library. I threw open the double doors grandly and swept my arms, gesturing to the absolutely huge library. I grinned at their expressions.

"You two are welcome to read anything from any shelf, except the very last one on the left. That shelf can only be accessed by someone of my family. Also, please leave the documents and parchments in the display cases, they're _ancient_." I stressed. I got numb nods, and both females disappeared into the stacks.

Mrs. Weasley had been engaged in conversation by Prim and Winky in the kitchens, and the last I heard, they were working out cooking arrangements for Christmas dinner; Mr. Weasley was glued to the television, and trying out various gaming systems. As suspected, Mr. Lovegood and Luna expressed a desire to explore the forest.

I led those two out to the edge of the courtyard, and tapped the nearest branch with my wand. Instantly, the path cleared and I sent blue markers throughout the forest. "The blue markers show where you might find places certain creatures frequent. They won't harm you as long as you don't appear threatening, so don't startle them. The wards should protect you from anything else, but I suggest that you stay as close to the trail as possible."

Both Lovegoods nodded, and set off on the path, obviously delighted at the opportunity.

The rest of the Weasley kids, Dan, Harry, and I gathered in one of the large sheds outside. "Alright you lot, I'm giving you each a broom to use while you're here, and then we're heading out to the pitch."

"Pitch?" All of them, save Harry, asked.

"It's a Quidditch pitch," I said, unlocking the shed. "One of you explain to Dan what Quidditch is."

As I opened the shed, all of them regaled a fascinated Dan with the wonders of Quidditch. Entering the shed, each wall was lined with brooms of all different types and models, organized by year and then design. I heard a sudden hush behind me, and looked over my shoulder to see all of them staring longingly into the shed. I laughed.

"Line up!" I called, mock-sternly.

Falling into line, from oldest to youngest, with Dan being in the back, I handed each of the teenagers a Nimbus 2001. Harry and I already had Firebolts, and I gave Dan a Nimbus 2000, which wasn't as fast as the others and he wouldn't be overwhelmed. I led them through the forest at the back of the house, staying on the trail, and listened to the excited chatter as we walked. The walk only lasted for little more than five minutes, and suddenly the trees broke, and we were standing at the edge of a snowy pitch.

Bill and Charlie whistled. "This is some pitch." Bill commented.

"Obviously top of the line goals and everything," Charlie added, eyeing the gleaming, golden hoops. "They aren't made of real gold are they?"

I snorted. "What with the," I smirked at Harry, "_grandeur_ around here, one might think that. But no, those aren't made of real gold." We walked to the center of the pitch, and could see another shed at the edge of it, along with stands, though not as many as a real pitch, only large enough to hold about a hundred or so people.

"See, I have standard Quidditch balls and such, but I figured we could start out with teaching Dan how to fly." I said to the group. They all agreed.

Ron grinned. "You might as well learn how we all did in first year, Mr. Granger."

Dan nodded, excited.

We lined up beside our brooms, which were laid out in two neat rows, facing each other. "Alright Dan, stick your writing hand over the broom and say _Up_. You have to be firm…" I said, "Like you're talking to a dog."

Dan stood on the left of the broom, stuck his right hand out. "Up!" he barked.

To our surprise and delight, the broom immediately jumped into his hand. His smile was so bright, it looked painful. "Good, now swing your leg over it…yes, like that…alright, when I whistle, everyone kick off the ground as hard as you can. I'll stick close to Dan until he gets a hang of it."

On three, I whistled, and suddenly, nine brooms rose in the air. Dan was shaky at first, but his face was set in determination. There were quite a few near misses in which I had to quickly steady him, but after about thirty or so minutes, he seemed to get the hang of it. "Who's up for a quick game?" I asked.

"There are nine of us, how's that going to play out?" Bill asked.

I pondered for a moment, looking at each person, before clapping my hands. "Here's how it's going to go. There'll be two teams, each team with have a seeker, a keeper…one team will have two chasers, and the other will have three." I gazed at all of them. "Balancing out your talents, the teams are as followed: Team One- Harry as seeker, Bill as Keeper, the twins and Dan as Chasers. Team Two- Charlie as seeker, Ron as Keeper, and me and Ginny as Chasers."

"Is that fair?" Dan asked.

I smirked. "I'm more than enough to make up for a third Chaser, ask Harry."

All eyes turned to Harry, who rolled his eyes and gripped his broom. "She's bloody brilliant; we'll have to play hard."

I laughed. "Oh undoubtedly, I don't want anyone to go easy. Though it's up to you all to pick your team captain; we'll do a quick team huddle before I whistle for the game to start."

While Harry's team flew off to the other side of the pitch, my team stayed and huddled. "Alright, who's team captain?" I asked.

They stared at me. "You, obviously." Charlie said.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on Gia, if Harry's that worried about you playing against him, you _must_ be good." Ginny reasoned. Ron nodded.

"Fine; Charlie, I've heard of your seeker skills, but Harry's a great seeker, and you'll have to be on your game. Ginny, you're small and quick, keep up with me and we've got this. Ron, you've got a wide reach and you're good with your eyes, watching the action and such. They've got a good team, and they'll undoubtedly lean on Harry to carry them, but we've got a good line up too. Now," I smirked. "I'm not fond of losing, so we'll play hard and we'll win."

I gazed around at their determined faces, and I couldn't keep the grin off of my face. "Are you lot ready to thoroughly kick some ass?" I asked.

Laughing, they all nodded. I looked over at Harry's team and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Oi! Are you lot ready to lose?" I called.

Harry laughed sarcastically. "We're ready when you are, Grey!" he taunted. I smirked.

"Ah, so that's how we're playing?" I said to my team. They all smirked. We all gathered in the middle of the pitch, and I summoned the trunk from the shed that carried the balls. I released the snitch and let it fly around, and put the Quaffle on the ground in between us, before moving the trunk off to the side.

"The Quaffle is charmed to shoot straight up on my whistle." I explained to the others.

We all lined up on opposite side of the Quaffle, glaring at each other. I grinned…and whistled.

The following game was thrilling, exciting, and rather interesting. Harry and Charlie used a similar method of staying high above the game to seek out the snitch, and on more than one occasion they both went into sudden dives, only to lose sight of the snitch. The twins and Dan surprisingly worked rather well together, but Ginny and I were a well-oiled machine.

When we had the ball, we were a blur, passing it back and forth, the boys were left dizzy. We scored on poor Bill so many times that he didn't know what to do with himself. At first, their three chasers scored on Ron, until he got serious and pulled on some inner confidence. After that, he made _amazing_ saves that had me convinced he was destined for a career as a Keeper.

In the end, Harry caught the snitch, but my team won 355-320.

As we made our way back towards the house, we all laughed and chatted. "You should've know that you would lose, Harry." I teased.

Harry stuck his tongue out at me. "I demand a rematch tomorrow." He said.

I looked at everyone. "I've got no problem wiping the floor with you lot, if my team is up for it?" Getting nods and laughter all around, we agreed on a rematch.

When we returned to the house, Hermione and Jane were lounging in the living room on the bottom floor, both seated by the fire with their noses buried in books. While Hermione was reading Different Uses for the Common Spell, Jane was reading up on the magical history of the Alps. Mr. Weasley had gotten the hang of playing the Nintendo 64, and was playing Mario Cart Racing, while Mrs. Weasley was happily employing the use of muggle devices to prepare dinner, with the help of Prim and Winky. Mr. Lovegood and Luna had returned from their explorations, overjoyed at discovering a nest of some rare bird that I didn't quite catch the name of. We all swapped stories and laughed throughout dinner. Harry and I shared a warm smile at the large family seated around the table. All in all, a very happy Sunday…


	23. The Yule Ball

_**Quick A/N:**__** Though this Chapter starts out rather fluffy and cute, towards the end we see our main characters grow up a bit more as they start to put the pieces together, and come up with a rather dark picture.**_

_**Also, I am currently writing up the final two chapter of this fic, chapters thirty-five and thirty-six. I believe I'll be starting the summer/fifth year sequel today. In my excitement, I decided to post this chapter. Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_When we returned to the house, Hermione and Jane were lounging in the living room on the bottom floor, both seated by the fire with their noses buried in books. While Hermione was reading Different Uses for the Common Spell, Jane was reading up on the magical history of the Alps. Mr. Weasley had gotten the hang of playing the Nintendo 64, and was playing Mario Cart Racing, while Mrs. Weasley was happily employing the use of muggle devices to prepare dinner, with the help of Prim and Winky. Mr. Lovegood and Luna had returned from their explorations, overjoyed at discovering a nest of some rare bird that I didn't quite catch the name of. We all swapped stories and laughed throughout dinner. Harry and I shared a warm smile at the large family seated around the table. All in all, a very happy Sunday…_

_**Chapter Twenty-Three**_

The following week had been a flurry of fun, family, and hundreds of pictures to add to my never-ending album.

We'd had the rematch that Monday, and then many more throughout the week with the ending result being 7-5, in favor of my team. After taking everyone up the mountains, and layering them all in protection charms, the Grangers and I had attempted to teach them how to ski and snowboard. To our surprise, Ginny, Ron, and Bill were the only ones to get snowboarding, while the twin somewhat got skiing. The Lovegoods had shown us the nest of rare birds, and they were truly beautiful. They were small, and their feathers were a bluish-silvery color that blended with the snow.

I took everyone exploring throughout the forest and mountains, showing them the waterfall but not telling them the story behind it. That was something I wanted to save between Harry and I. We did, however, discover a cave at the base of one of the mountains. It obviously had not been inhabited in _years_, and so we all carved our initials, age, and the year into the rock. Overall, everyone had found something that they enjoyed doing that week, and it was all very enjoyable.

It was a wonderful change to have the house filled with people and the sounds of laughter and family, and Harry and I were positively glowing the entire week. Also, after everyone had set up their presents under the tree (after aww'ing and teasing us about Harry and mines baby pictures), the pile had been massive, and it wasn't uncommon to find someone trying to figure out what was in their boxes in the middle of the night.

It was the best winter I'd had in years, and it seemed like I'd blinked, and suddenly it was the day of the Ball, and Christmas Eve. That morning, I awoke in Harry's arms as usual and smiled upon remembering the day. I slipped easily out of bed, not bothering to wake Harry, and dressed for the day. It seemed that everyone had slept in, and it was already two in the afternoon. I wandered down to the kitchen and sat at the large island in the middle, eating a bowl of cereal.

After my small breakfast, I'd settled in the living room and watched TV until Hermione, Luna, and Ginny wandered downstairs, too excited to stay in bed. They all ate cereal and we relaxed in the living room until it was five o'clock. I was surprised that no one had come downstairs yet, but shrugged.

"Come on, the ball starts in three hours and we need to look perfect." I said, standing up and stretching. I summoned writing materials and left a note on my pillow:

_Dear Harry,_

_The girls and I have gone ahead to get ready for the Ball. I left a portkey for you and the guys to use, and make sure you tell all of the parents that I'll make sure to get loads of pictures for them. Your robes are in our closet, love. You'd better be ready and here on time, or I will personally skin you alive, Potter!_

_Oh, and gather the boys and meet us at the bottom of the main staircase._

_Yours always,_

_Gia_

Since our dresses and such were already in my closet back at East Tower, we portkeyed outside the gates of Hogwarts and hurried up into the school. As soon as we entered the school, we could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. Remembering my promise, I turned to Hermione.

"Take them up to the Room of Requirement, ask for a room with loads of showers and such, everything we'd need. Then, go to East Tower, get our dresses and supplies and such. Make sure to get the six small wrapped boxes on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I'll meet you up there in a few minutes." I instructed.

Hermione looked confused until she nodded. "The Slytherin girls?" she asked. I nodded. I watched them head towards the main staircase, before I wandered quickly down into the dungeons. Outside the blank stretch of wall that led to the Slytherin common room, I sent a quick bludgeoning spell at it, and sure enough, a second later a very angry Slytherin seventh year boy came to the entrance.

He looked ready to yell, but then saw who it was. His eyes made the usual trip up and down my figure, before he raised an eyebrow. "Anything I can _do _for you, Grey?" he asked suggestively.

I smirked. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. You can go get Parkinson, Davis, and Greengrass, though."

"And what do I get in return?" he said, leaning forward. I smiled widely, exposing my fangs.

"I won't kill you." I said simply.

Message received, the boy retreated back into the common room, and I only waited about two minutes before the three girls appeared. "Grey, how do you know where our common room is?" Parkinson asked, by way of greeting.

I grinned and shrugged vaguely. "You should know not to be surprised by me, by now Parkinson. Anyway, are you three ready to get ready for the Ball?"

Daphne pointed looked at Parkinson. "We haven't even showered yet." She groaned.

"Don't worry about that, come on." I said. They hurried back to get their things before following me up to the main corridors. On the fifth floor, I turned to them. "In the interest of keeping certain things secret, you'll have to allow me to place a spell on you so that you can't see where we're going."

Though reluctant, the three agreed and I used a blindfolding spell before leading them up to the Room of Requirement. Once inside and the door had melted back into plain wall, I removed the spell and the three girls gaped. Hermione had apparently asked for some sort of beauty salon, dorm, dressing room combo. There were seven doors off to one side, and I assumed they all led to a bathroom.

"Don't ask," I said to the three girls. Walking over to the doors, I heard the showers running in the first three. "You three take these bathrooms, shower, and put on your dresses, leave the rest to me."

They all disappeared into their own bathrooms, and I took the last one, discovering that I closely resembled my bathroom in East Tower. Thirty minutes later, I emerged into the main room to find that the other six girls were already finished, each sitting in a salon chair in front of a vanity. "Are we playing nice, kitties?" I teased, walking into the room.

I got six glares, none of which affected me. I stared at the six girls, all of them were wearing their dresses and heels like I'd instructed. Making a decision, I walked down to Luna. "Luna, I'll fix you up first." Because Luna was already practically glowing, she didn't need makeup. I applied a light red lipgloss to give her some sparkle to go with her dress, and did her hair in long, spiraling curls.

I found the right box and handed it to Luna. "Here, this is one of your Christmas gifts." I said. Luna opened it, and gasped. Inside the box, were two lovely, pale red ruby encrusted hairclips; I fixed them into Luna's hair, and we all stared at her.

"You look stunning, Luna." Hermione breathed.

"Terry will be _speechless_!" Ginny giggled.

"Terry Boot?" Daphne asked.

"Yes," Luna said.

"Good choice," Daphne said simply.

"Daphne, you're next." I said, coming to stand behind her.

I used the barest bit of blush to give her pale skin some color, and gave her a light pink lipgloss to put on. Exactly like the day I took her shopping, I did her hair in a curly, half-up, half-down hairstyle. I handed her the Christmas gift I'd gotten her, a greenish-blue tourmaline gemstone necklace with a matching hairclip to go in her obsidian curls.

Next was Ginny; I very lightly applied sparkling light pink lipgloss, and I did her hair in a braided updo, giving her an amethyst jewelry set. After that, I did Tracy. I gave her shimmery eye makeup to go with her golden dress, a neutral lipgloss, and renewed the caramel highlights in her plain brown hair, with that, I gave it that vintage, wavy-curled style, and she once again looked like one of those old movie stars. Her Christmas jewelry was a yellow topaz set.

Then, I did Hermione. I gave her shimmer silver eye makeup, pale pink lipgloss, and I twisted her hair up into an elegant knot. Her Christmas jewelry was an aquamarine gemstone necklace and matching earrings. I had purposefully saved Pansy for last, and as she looked at the other girls, all sparkling and beautiful, she smirked. "Do your worst Grey. I want to see Draco comatose when he gets a load of me."

I laughed. "No problem, Parkinson."

To compliment her hot pink Ball dress, I applied deep purple eye shadow, black mascara and eyeliner, a very light bronzer to give her skin a slight sun-kissed look, and hot pink lipstick. I did her long, thick, inky black hair in vintage, soft curls. When I had finished with her, she looked absolutely deliciously, jaw-droppingly, _gorgeous_. I was rather proud of myself for turning Pansy into a beautiful creature. I watched for her reaction as she stared in the mirror.

"Grey," she said slowly, "I swear to Merlin I owe you _hugely_ for this!"

Suddenly, a smile broke out on her face.

To my utter surprise, the other five girls all pulled Pansy into an excited chatter about the ball, their dates, etc. It was interesting to see the girls from completely opposite house interacting pleasantly. As they chatted, I slipped into my emerald green dress and heels, did my own makeup, and did my hair in long, loose spirals. When I had finished, I stood up and spun for the other girls, who could only stair in amazed silence.

"That dress…" Daphne breathed.

"With your hair…" Ginny added.

"And your eyes…" Hermione commented.

"Along with your figure, and Potter will immediately be drowned with thoughts of ravaging you." Pansy laughed. "He'll need a cold shower _immediately_."

I smirked, rather pleased with myself. "Good," I said, "that's what I was going for."

By that time, it was seven-forty exactly, and we were making good time. Checking ourselves in the mirrors one last time, I blindfolded the Slytherins until we were down on the fourth floor, and then I removed the spell, making sure not to mess up their makeup. As we descended the last flight of the main staircase, there seemed to be a unanimous gasp of sharp inhaling, eyes popping, jaws hitting the floor, and many, many thoughts of cold showers.

Following my directions, Harry had gathered up Ron, Neville, and Terry, and they were waiting for us, all looking extremely handsome. Harry's eyes were clearly sparkling and pulsing with emotion and happiness, and I felt my heart speed up. Luckily, Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini were also waiting there, all looking incredibly dashing.

We all approached our dates, and there were several rounds of snapping and calling their names until they could form a proper thought that didn't involve…interesting activities. All seven of us girls shared pleased looks, and Pansy discreetly winked at me, thoroughly enjoying Malfoy's full and undivided, slightly dazed attention.

In a momentary display of house unity, all fourteen of us, eight Lions and six Snakes, headed to the entrance hall together, making quite the entrance. There, we went to stand with members of our own houses, and I heard Daphne, Tracy, and Pansy explaining to their house, with everyone within earshot listening, how I had taken them shopping and had fixed them up. Immediately, all eyes had turned to me, and I practically felt the heat in Harry's glare as he stared down every boy that glanced my way, never mind the fact that their own dates were glaring at them.

I had a quick conversation with Fleur and Viktor, who were accompanied by Roger Davies and Parvati Patil respectively, before they disappeared into the crowd milling about in the entrance hall. Finally, McGonagall appeared. "Champions, over here, please!"

I gently took Harry's elbow, unable to stop smiling, a problem he seemed to have as well, and I looked at my friends. "We'll see you inside." I said.

"Good luck, you both look amazing together." Hermione said.

We walked forward, and felt the gazes of hundreds of students as they parted to let us pass. We waited on one side of the door while everyone else filed inside to be seated. I took this opportunity to engage Cedric in conversation, and Harry and I were both delighted to see that he wasn't with Cho Chang, but actually a rather pretty seventh year girl I recognized as Ceria Miltes. She had caramel colored hair, kind blue eyes, and an amazing figure. She was currently wearing a light blue dress that came to just above her knees, and the bust was covered in a shimmery layer of white lace.

"Hell Cedric, Ceria, don't you two look great!" I said honestly.

"Hey Gia," both of them said.

"You both look amazing as well!" Ceria complimented.

We chatted until everyone had settled in their seats. "Alright, line up with your partner, and follow me." McGonagall directed. We followed her directions, and as we swept into the Great Hall, we were ambushed with thunderous applause and cheers, along with catcalls and whistles. I knew that Harry had been nervous, but it seemed as though my own natural grace spilled over onto him, and we made it up to the Head Table with no problems.

To my delight, all of the champions and their dates sat together. As dinner began and the conversation started to flow, I saw Harry looking confused at the menu before him. "Love," I said, giggling, "you simply speak what you want, and it'll appear on your plate."

Harry's blushed lightly and kissed my cheek. He opted for the baked chicken and vegetables, and when it appeared, he grinned at me. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Gia."

I snorted. "Obviously, you'd starve trying to figure out how to use a menu." Dinner was a pleasant affair, and we all shared a private laugh as Dumbledore cut off Karkaroff's speech about knowing the secrets of their schools.

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon—or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder. "

Harry had snorted into his goblet of pumpkin juice, Cedric had bitten his fork rather hard trying not to laugh outright, Viktor was trying to hide his laughter behind a gruff cough, while Parvati, Ceria, and I were trying viciously to hide our hard giggles. "You don't think...?" Harry insinuated.

"The RoR?" I asked, my lip twitching. He nodded. "Perhaps, or maybe there's another magical room around here, giving out _magnificent collections of chamber pots_." I couldn't contain my giggles, and when I'd stopped, I saw Percy Weasley frowning at us, causing us all to fall into laughter again.

After that, dinner passed rather quickly, and soon enough, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it. The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn.

They picked up their instruments, while the lanterns on all of the other tables went out, and we were all standing up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune and we walked onto the brightly lit dance floor. Harry easily rested one hand on my waist and held my hand in his. I rested my hand on his shoulder, and upon getting the cue, we all began to dance.

It was simply _magical_ as Harry gently steered me around the dance floor, and I could only imagine what the onlookers were thinking as our four couples twirling and swept past each other. Gradually, the song sped up until we were positively flying around the room, dresses, robes, and hair flaring out and swirling about. Harry kept a nice hold on me as we twirled and spun. The most amusing part, however, had to be when Harry twirled me particularly close to a group of Slytherins, and my red hair whipped out and slapped a stunned Malfoy in the face, something Pansy seemed to find particularly amusing.

Eventually though, people began to join us on the dance floor, and Harry danced me towards our friends. Hermione was laughing delightedly as Ron said something to her, spinning her out and bringing her back in. Ginny looked particularly ecstatic as Neville amazingly spun her under his hand. Luna was simply a dream in her sparkling red dress, and both she and Terry looked as though life could get no better.

"Having fun?" I called to Hermione quickly as Harry teasingly spun me out, and then back in, away from Hermione. Laughing, Hermione called back.

"Definitely!"

We made another graceful circuit around the dance floor until we arrived back at the Slytherins area. "Pansy, you two look great!" I called as we twirled past her and Draco.

She grinned at us as Malfoy smoothly twirled her as well, and I was surprised when Malfoy actually spared us a decent nod of acknowledgement. Tracy and Nott, and Daphne and Blaise all looked wonderfully content together. And as the song sped up again, I actually caught sight of my own hair twirling around as we danced faster. We ended the dance with a beautifully executed dip, and when Harry pulled me back up, I couldn't resist kissing him.

Harry and I, both slightly flushed, grinned largely at each other. We listened as the Weird Sisters began another song, this one much faster than the last. I smirked challengingly at Harry. "Are you up for it, Potter?"

He leaned down, giving me a quick kiss. "After you, Miss Grey." He said. And we were back on the dance floor.

During the next few songs, we managed to dance our way back to our friends and finally, we collapsed in a few chairs off to the side, tired out for the moment, but all unable to stop smiling. "This Ball is _amazing_." I gushed, opening a bottle of butterbeer that Harry and I shared.

"Absolutely!" Hermione agreed, smiling as Ron got the both of them drinks.

"This is the most fun I've had all year, besides at your house, Gia." Ginny said, smiling at Neville, who was trying not to blush under her gaze.

I looked out at the many dancing couples trying to keep up with the fast beat of the song, and my lips turned up in a huge grin. "Aww," I exclaimed, "look at them."

'_Them_', happened to be Luna and Terry, who were dancing a little ways away from us, never breaking eye contact. They were obviously over the moon for each other, and it showed as they flowed seamlessly into the more classical song. I stood up and grabbed Harry's hand. "Come on Potter, we've got more dancing to do!"

Laughing as Harry swept me back onto the dance floor, the next few dances were spent happily in each other's arms. After our fifth consecutive dance, Harry grabbed my hand and gently pulled me from the Great Hall, through the entrance hall, and out into the twinkling gardens that had been created for the night. We wandered aimlessly, simply enjoying each other's company. Eventually, we sat on one of the stone benches near a beautifully sculpted fountain, and I leaned my head on Harry's shoulder.

"Tonight has definitely been one of the best nights of my life." Harry said softly, absently rubbing circles into my back.

I grinned. "Patronus worthy?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "I feel like I could summon a hundred Patroni."

I giggled and raised an eyebrow. "Patroni? Ha, Hermione's rubbing off on you, isn't she?"

Harry grinned and rolled his eyes, before suddenly looking serious. "Gia, I know we've been…somewhat together for the few months but…" He gazed soulfully into my eyes, and I immediately felt as though I were melting right there on that bench. He could've asked me anything and I probably would've said yes. "Will you officially be my girlfriend?"

My smile lit up the gardens and I pulled Harry into a deep kiss that left both of us dizzy and mindless, even after we broke apart. We gazed into each other's eyes, our foreheads resting together, grinning.

The peaceful, loving moment was ruined as my ears twitched and I picked up a rather heated conversation. I stood up and pulled Harry back onto the path, under the guise of walking as we very slowly got closer.

"... Don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor." We recognized the first voice as Professor Snape.

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it."

"Then flee," said Snapes voice curtly. "Flee—I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts." Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner.

Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them. "Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her.

"And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Harry and me on the path ahead of them. Karkaroff, we saw, looked slightly discomposed to see us standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.

I curtsied politely. "We're just walking, Professor." I said smoothly.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Well do keep walking, Miss Grey." He said calmly. I hid my surprise nicely, and pulled Harry back towards the front doors. Harry grumbled slightly.

"If it had just been me, I would've been given detention for a month." He said. I laughed.

"Be grateful I'm such an amazingly wonderful likeable person then." I replied, when we saw Hagrid and Madame Maxime.

"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.

We froze, and I knew that this wasn't the sort of conversation we ought to walk in on. I looked around, and back up the path, I saw Fleur and Roger stand half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. I raised an eyebrow, and felt my lip twitch slightly.

"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.

I didn't want to listen to this. I recognized those tones, but Harry seemed unable to move. In fact, he was staring absently at a beetle crawling along the back of a stone reindeer.

"I jus' knew... Knew you were like me... Was it yer mother or yer father?"

"I—I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid..."

"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can'remember her too well... She left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well... It's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... Might be dead fer all I know..."

Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Harry, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening...

"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh..." Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. "Dad raised me... But he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me ownway after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was..."

Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. "So... anyway... enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"

But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. "It is chilly," she said—but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."

"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don' go! I've—I've never met another one before!"

"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.

I longed to stop Hagrid from answering, but as if sensing my intention, Harry grabbed my arm. I shot him a look, and he shook his head firmly. _Stay put…_

"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid.

"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind us,we heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush, and despite the situation, I barely held back a laugh. "I 'ave nevair beenmore insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave—I 'ave big bones!"

She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.

I stared after Hagrid, my heart breaking for him at the sight of his slumped shoulders. I longed to run after him, to comfort the poor man, but Harry had a grip on my arm. "He'd be even more upset," Harry said softly, "mortified even, if he knew we heard their conversation."

I sighed and Harry let go of my arm as we walked back up the path towards the school. "But I don't understand why Madame Maxime was so upset…" Harry said.

I looked at him. "You didn't know Hagrid was a half-giant?" I asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "So what?"

I snorted and shook my head as we entered the entrance hall. Harry grabbed my arm again, gently, pulling me to a stop. "What's wrong with giants?"

"They're bloody vicious," I started. "They actually enjoy killing, and don't have much emotion about them. You heard Hagrid…it's in their nature."

Harry rolled his eyes. "But Hagrid's not like that! He's probably the most kind-hearted person in this bloody castle!"

I placed my palms on Harry's chest. "Harry, I know that, you know that, and you know I love Hagrid, but if anybody else found out about this…"

"But what's it matter if his mother's a giantess?" Harry prompted.

"Harry…" I sighed. "Hagrid would be ruined, just leave it at that."

"How come there aren't any around now?" He asked.

"They were dying out anyway, but the rest of them got themselves killed by Aurors, they killed each other, etc…The ones that are still alive hide out in the mountains though." I explained.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know who Madame Maxime thinks she's kidding. If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones... The only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. The Ball was still going strong, and I dragged Harry back into the Great Hall. "Come on, let's at least try to enjoy the rest of the night." I insisted.

Harry eyed me in my dress, and I grinned as I saw the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly. He let me drag him out onto the dance floor where he immediately began to twirl me about, the two of us easing unnoticed back into the crowd. We spent the next hour or two dancing and laughing with our friends until midnight, when the Weird Sisters finished out their last song and began packing up.

We exited out into the entrance hall with everyone else as they began to separate, many of them expressing their desire that the Ball go on longer. Our group felt rather the same. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I gave Ginny and Luna some privacy with their dates as they said goodnight, and when they joined us on the front steps, they were both rather red in the face. Ron was too busy gazing happily at Hermione to notice or care, and I smiled contently as Harry wrapped his arm around me. At that moment, the twins popped up and joined us, both having rather silly grins on their faces, and their hair curiously mussed.

We made our way down the sloping lawns until we were outside the gates. I conjured the usual length of rope and made the portkey back home. When we arrived, we found everyone relaxing in the main living room on the first floor. As soon as we walked in, everyone looked up and their eyes widened dramatically. The two mothers immediately began to gush about how beautiful and handsome we all looked, while the fathers stood back proudly, having one of those '_they're growing up so fast'_ moments.

I felt the gazes of Bill and Charlie on me, and looked up at them, raising an eyebrow. They both smiled innocently, and I grinned, rolling my eyes. After regaling them all with a long tale of the Ball, leaving out the part with Hagrid, those of us that had attended the ball headed up for our rooms. After the twins, Ginny, and Luna had disappeared into their rooms, I turned to Ron and Hermione

"After you two change into your pajamas and stuff, come upstairs to my room." I said. Looking confused, they both agreed. Harry and I wandered up to our room, and I gazed in the mirror with a sad smile.

Harry came up behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. "What's wrong, love?" he murmured, kissing my neck.

I grinned. "I'm kind of sad that the night is over. When am I ever going to get to wear this dress again?" I said softly, trying not to moan as Harry gently nipped at my skin.

"Maybe it's just one of those things we'll pass onto our daughter." Harry suggested, moving his lips to my bare shoulder. I raised an eyebrow.

"Our daughter..? Planning ahead, are we?" I teased. Harry flushed and ignored the question, his hands trailing down and resting on my hips. "I can see that you won't be distracted, but Hermione and Ron will be up here any minute."

Harry groaned. "Damn…"

Laughing, I faced him and reached up on my tiptoes, capturing him in a deep kiss full of promise. "We'll get our time, Harry." I said, before slipping out of his arms.

Picking out purple satin shorts and a matching sports bra, I sadly slipped out of my emerald green dress and heels. Very carefully, I placed the dress back in its plastic bag, cast a preservation charm over it, and hung it up in the closet. Feeling Harry's hungry gaze on me, I put on my pajamas, and turned to see that he'd already done the same. I rolled my eyes, seeing that he had simply dropped his green dress robes on the floor. Picking them up, I shook out the wrinkles, and hung them up too.

I was getting ready to slip into bed, when I remembered something, and threw on some boots, a sweater, and grabbed my wand. "Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"I almost forgot to go put out the harp…for the water nymph." I said. Harry threw on some quick clothing, and we used our brooms, leaving directly from the patio. We flew directly over the trees in the dark, with me sending balls of light ahead of us, until we reached the calm, peaceful clearing.

I stared out at the calm pool of water that radiated a slight bluish light that lit up Harry and me, as well as the entire clearing, only slightly though, barely enough to see by. I conjured a large, golden harp, and tapped it with my wand. Immediately, it began to play soft, warm, enveloping music that floated softly throughout the clearing. Sighing, I smiled slightly. "Merry Christmas!" I called out.

I didn't expect a reply, and I didn't get one. Kicking off the ground, once again, I swore I heard faint laughter and a splash as we flew away from that mysterious, magical place.

We made it back to my room, and we were just settling into bed when I heard a soft knock on the door. I waved my wand and the door swung open, revealing both Hermione and Ron, both in their pajamas. They closed the door behind them, and settled on the foot of the bed, both leaning against either bed post.

"So, what's up?" Ron asked, stifling a yawn.

Harry and I shared a look and we shared the two conversations we'd overheard. Hermione and Ron didn't have much to say about poor Hagrid's predicament, though.

"But what's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron asked.

"And since when has he and Snape been on first name terms?" Harry added slowly.

Hermione shot me a pointed look. "You still think it's Karkaroff, don't you?" I asked.

"Well, don't you?" she countered. The boys looked confused.

"She thinks _what_ is Karkaroff?" Ron asked.

"Not _what, who…_She thinks it was Karkaroff that put Harry's name in the Goblet." I explained.

Ron's eyebrows shot up. "Why would he do that?"

I groaned. "Oh right, you weren't there when we discussed this. The night you err, came to get your textbooks," Ron flushed, "Sirius had floo called. He'd warned us that Karkaroff use to be a Death Eater, but he'd gotten out of Azkaban by giving up names to the Ministry."

Ron nodded. "Then, doesn't it make sense that as soon as he gets here, Harry's name is spat from the Goblet?" Hermione nodded in agreement.

I shook my head slowly. "I don't know… I think Karkaroff is too much of a coward to try something like that under Dumbledore's nose. Remember what we told you about his and Snape's conversation?"

Harry's eyebrow rose. "The part about him fleeing?"

I nodded. "Exactly. If he's willing to run that quickly, chances are he's not thrilled about being around for whatever he's expecting. That doesn't sound like someone who's working for Voldemort."

"What did he mean by _it _getting clearer and clearer, though?" Hermione asked. "Perhaps it's like the signs that Sirius was talking about, the ones that Dumbledore is reading?"

But on the word _signs_, a fact popped up in my mind, and my eyes widened. "Hermione, you're brilliant but possibly wrong." I said hurriedly.

Hermione huffed, while the boys grinned. "What do you mean?"

I paused. "When you said signs, you reminded me of something. You remember how the Dark Mark had been sent up into the sky at the World Cup, right?"

I got three nods.

"Well, all of Voldemort's followers are branded with a tattoo of the Dark Mark on their left forearm. I'd heard that it had faded after…" I looked at Harry, "after Voldemort _disappeared_, but maybe it's getting darker again?"All three pairs of their eyes widened dramatically.

"B-but…what's that mean?" Ron asked quietly. "I-If you're right, I mean."

"You don't think..?" Harry started.

Hermione looked deeply troubled. "But think back on first and second year. We already knew that V-Voldemort was trying to come back. Dumbledore even told you so himself, Harry, that day in the Hospital Wing in first year."

"But if it's only just started getting darker these past few months…" Ron said.

"Then he's getting stronger." Harry softly.

We fell into contemplative silence, until Ron shivered, his skin pale.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, absently taking his hand to soothe him.

"If V-V-Voldemort," Ron forced out, "if he manages to come back, what are we going to do? You should hear the way Bill's voice gets when he talks about what it was like back then. He was eleven, had just started at Hogwarts when it ended, so he remembers. Mum and Dad won't even talk about it, at all…"

We all stared around at each other until I shook my head firmly. "We'll do what we have to do to protect those we love." I said seriously, though I felt the smallest bit of fear creep into my heart. My hand found Harry's and I squeezed it. "I don't want him to come back, none of us do, but if he does, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you lot." I promised.

Harry kissed my head. "Same here," he said, "you're my family, and Voldemort took my first one, I'm not letting him tear apart this one." Hermione and Ron nodded firmly, obviously scared but determined. I could see that we were in this together, and though I really didn't want my new family to be in the line of fire, I couldn't have asked for more trustworthy back up.

I felt as though this was just the very beginning of a rather long, rather dark journey that awaited us…


	24. Merry Christmas!

**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! As a Christmas gift to all of my loyal readers, I've decided to post another chapter. Plus, you'll find that this chapter is oddly convenient! I hope you all have a Christmas as great and heartfelt as this one. Enjoy and Happy Holidays! Especially to a loyal reader that wished me a Merry Christmas, Mr. T! Thank you.**

_Previous Chapter:_

_We all stared around at each other until I shook my head firmly. "We'll do what we have to do to protect those we love." I said seriously, though I felt the smallest bit of fear creep into my heart. My hand found Harry's and I squeezed it. "I don't want him to come back, none of us do, but if he does, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you lot." I promised._

_Harry kissed my head. "Same here," he said, "you lot are my family, and Voldemort took my first one, I'm not letting him tear apart this one." Hermione and Ron nodded firmly, obviously scared but determined. I could see that we were in this together, and though I really didn't want my new family to be in the line of fire, I couldn't have asked for more trustworthy back up._

_I felt as though this was just the very beginning of a rather long, rather dark journey that awaited us…_

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

After we separated for the night, Harry and I attempted to sleep, but were both ultimately awoken by terribly vivid nightmares, not that they were unexpected. We ended up holding each other, and after the sun had risen, we forced ourselves out of bed, bags under our eyes as proof of our sleepless night. I absently pulled on one of Harry's larger t-shirts and some black slippers, not bothering to put on anything else over my shorts. Harry simply put on a t-shirt and black basketball shorts, and we stumbled silently from our room.

Before we got to the bottom of the stairs, I stopped Harry. "Merry Christmas, love." I whispered, leaning on Harry's chest. For some odd reason, I felt the urge to cry, and I didn't know why.

"Merry Christmas, Gia." Harry murmured into my hair.

"Listen, we're both obviously not in a jolly mood, but we at least have to fake it for everyone else. I don't want to ruin Christmas because of a couple of nightmares…" I said quietly.

"I agree." He sighed.

And so, before stepping into the Christmas Room, where we heard everyone else gathered, we pulled out our best fake smiles and entered. "Merry Christmas all!" we announced. We got happy yells and chatter as we sat on the floor with Hermione and Ron next to the tree, and the more I forced a smile, the more I felt tears prickling behind my eyes. Harry leaned back against a couch, and I sat between his bent legs, leaning against his chest and sighing as he wrapped his arms around me.

We got warm smiles and suggestive eyebrow winks (those were from the twins, of course), and I smiled. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's open presents!" Harry exclaimed. I couldn't hear it in his voice, but I felt the tension in his embrace.

I waved my wand and everyone's pile flew to the person. We watched everyone open presents until only the ones I had given them, and my personal pile of presents remained. I personally handed Ginny her box while Harry handed Ron an identical one, we actually smiled as they opened the boxes and practically screamed as they pulled out two, shining Firebolts.

"G-Gia," Ginny said, amazement in her tone, "I can't accept this. This is a _Firebolt!_" Ron said the same thing to Harry.

I snorted. "We figured you two would say that, which is why I didn't buy you a brand new one. That's my old one." I explained.

"You're giving me your broom?" Ginny exclaimed, caressing the broom lovingly.

"Yeah, Harry and I," I smiled a real smile at him, "ended up buying each other _Firebolt XT's_, you know…great minds think alike and all that rot… so I decided to give you my old broom. Harry's has sentimental value, someone very close to him gave his to him, and so he actually bought Ron a new one. They're in perfect condition, and we know you two will take good care of them."

Both of them wouldn't stop thanking us. "And by that same token," I said to the twins, "You two are allowed to choose any two brooms from the shed."

"And," Harry said, pushing a large box towards them, "this is from Gia and me, together."

"You two really,"

"Shouldn't have…just,"

"being here was,"

"the greatest present!" The twins said, in their usual twin-speak.

However, they had identical huge grins as they unwrapped and opened the huge box. "It's a bunch of muggle pranks and fireworks." Harry explained.

"Yeah, we figured you two might like to branch out. And if you look in the box, you'll find two pouches, both of which are filled with one hundred galleons each…" I said.

"To keep the pranking alive," Harry finished, giving the twins pointed looks.

The other Weasleys were watching on in shock, and eyeing their own presents rather warily. "This is much too generous!" Fred insisted.

I growled. "You two will accept those gifts, just like Ron and Ginny will accept their brooms and other gift, or I will hex all of you!" I snapped playfully.

Putting their hands up in surrender, the twins thanked us profusely, then sat back and grinned evilly at trouble, undoubtedly pre-plotting the sort of mayhem they could create with their gifts.

"Other gift?" Ginny asked.

Harry and I nodded. "We wanted to get you something more meaningful than a simple broom." I said.

"More meaningful!?" Ginny exclaimed.

"A simple broom!?" Ron added.

We all laughed, and I produced two more boxes, handing Ron the larger one, and Ginny the smaller one. Ginny opened hers first, and gasped, her eyes as round as saucers as she gently picked up a long silver chain, with a beautiful silver and ruby ring dangling from it. "That ring," I explained, "belonged to one of my many-times great grandmothers. It has a ton of protection spells on it, and by coincidence, she shared your full name, Genevra. I thought you'd like it."

Knowing she wouldn't win the argument, Ginny simply slipped the chain over her head, and fingered the ring caringly. I knew I had made the right choice. Now, we all watched as Ron opened his box, and pulled out a chess set with all the pieces, though the pieces were crafted differently than modern pieces. Some even had powdered wigs.

I grinned. "That is one of ten of the original wizarding chess sets _ever _created…like, ever. That board and those pieces are _ancient_, older than Hogwarts." I explained. Ron's eyes popped with each sentence, and then his face melted in a warm smile.

"Geez Gia, this is great…" Ron said softly.

I clapped. "Hermione darling, are you ready for your presents?" I asked. Hermione laughed and eyed me warily.

"I'm not sure…" she said.

I pushed a large, perfectly square box towards the older girl, and gestured for her to open it. She did, and pulled out three enormous books. They were at least five inches thick…each. "Wha—" Hermione's voice trailed off as she read the covers.

"Yes, you are seeing correctly." I teased.

"Why, what is it?" Dan asked, sitting on one of the couches, with an arm wrapped around his wife.

"Those are the _original_, as in not a copy but actually original, first, second, and third volumes of _A History, Hogwarts_. They were written centuries ago, when the school was first built." I explained.

This caused many round eyes, and ooh's and aah's. "Damn Gia, you don't do anything by half, do you?" Bill joked.

I snorted. "Since you drew my attention, you can go next, _William_." I said, smirking. Everyone laughed as Bill grumbled lightly and flushed as I handed him two boxes, one large and one small. He started to open them. "Wait!" I exclaimed, causing everyone to freeze and stare at me.

I scratched my head. "Sorry, I just changed my mind. Charlie, you can go next." I said, handing him a slightly smaller box. He was careful as he unraveled the wrapping paper, revealing a small black leather lockbox. I grinned as he looked at me, confused. "Tap it three times with your wand. After that, you can set a password if you want."

Charlie did as he was told, and found that he could now open the box. Inside, were exactly seven shining black scales, each about the size of my palm. As Charlie picked one up and moved it about, the black scale glittered and revealed different colors and shades, depending on how the light hit it.

"Those are seven scales from a Romanian Longhorn Dragon." I explained. Charlie gasped. "Yes, they're valuable and rare because—"

"There are only three Longhorns left in the entire world…" Charlie supplied. "Wow Gia…this is truly incredible. Thank you." He said sincerely, gazing at the scales that were worth a small fortune each. But somehow I knew that Charlie would rather sell his soul before he even thought about selling those scales.

"_Now_, you can go Bill." I said, giggling softly.

Like Charlie, Bill was careful as he unwrapped the large box first and pulled out a thick book. "That is a book on ancient, old world curses from around the world that have yet to be broken to this day." I explained. Bill seemed speechless. "Go on, open the next box." I encouraged.

He did, and sitting in a bed of black velvet was a large, sharp yellowed fang attached to a black cord necklace. "Ron told me you had the earring, so I thought you'd like this. That is an actual fang from the very same Longhorn that Charlie's scales came from."

"This must've cost a fortune…or ten…" Bill breathed.

I snorted. "Hardly; one of my many-times great grandfathers use to be a Dragon Keeper, like Charlie, back when Longhorns were more common. He'd collected this after two dragons got into a bit of a rough fight, and it's been sitting in my vault, collecting dust for _ages_. I figured it deserved to be properly salivated over and appreciated." I elaborated.

"Luna, you're next," I said in a sing-song voice, "actually, it's a present for both you and Mr. Lovegood." I handed Luna a box. "Be very, very gentle with that." I warned.

Luna nodded, and her father looked over her shoulder as she opened the box, and pulled out a rather large, bright blue egg with odd yellow swirls on it. "It's not an actual animal," I explained, "well, it use to be, but it had been in a stasis for so long that it's been fossilized already. If you cast an x-ray charm, you can see it, and it's nothing I've ever seen, so I thought you two might appreciate that. And if you look in the bottom of the box, you'll find two tickets to a special wizarding tour of the Amazon rainforest this summer."

Luna's eyes had welled up slightly and smiled so brightly at me, I swear it lit up the whole room. "Thank you so much, Gia." Mr. Lovegood repeated the sentiment, looking deeply touched by the gifts.

"You truly are a remarkable young women, Miss Grey." He said softly, placing a hand on Luna's shoulder.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, you two are next." I said. I handed them both books on the wizarding history of dental hygiene. "Dan you, like the twins, can pick any one broom from the shed, while you Jane, can pick any three books from the library, as long as it's not from the family bookcase."

"Wow," both of them breathed, obviously excited and rather touched.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I know you both will want to decline the gift, but it's already been done and no, you can't return it. So…both Harry and I placed five thousand galleons in your family vault for you to do whatever you want with it." I said.

There was complete silence and, like Luna, Mrs. Weasley's eyes welled up. She swept me up right off the floor into a rib-cracking hug that put Hermione's to shame. "Oh dear, that's much too generous!" she insisted.

"It's fine Mrs. Weasley, and it's nothing. You lot are family, and I want my family to have the best, or at least be comfortable." I said softly, hugging the motherly woman back.

Sitting back against Harry, I gave him a quick peck. "Harry, you get the last present." I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought the brand new Firebolt XT was my present..?"

I snorted. "Hardly," I said, "I wanted you to have something more meaningful than a simply broomstick, Harry." I handed him a large box, from which he removed a black leather-bound book with the words _Hogwarts Years _written on the front in gleaming, gold lettering. The book was at least five or six inches thick, and as Harry opened the cover, the first picture was of him, Ron, Hermione, and I, all smiling at the camera, standing in front of the Fat Lady.

Harry ran his finger gently over the picture. "This was the picture Collin took…back in the beginning of October..?" he asked. I nodded. "This whole book is a photo album."

"Yeah, and it's completely filled with pictures of this year, along with hundreds of pictures from the last two years that I managed to get copies of from Collin. I even managed to get a few dozen from various students and professors from your first year. You were a cute little kid. It's charmed to be never-ending, and it has loads of preservation and protection charms on it, and I thought we could just keep adding to it, at least until we graduate…" I trailed off, realizing that I was rambling.

"This is just as meaningful and amazingly heartfelt as the photo album Hagrid had given me with pictures of my parents." Harry said. As he said that, I felt a knock on the wards and grinned. Perfect timing.

"I'm glad you brought that up, actually." I said, standing up. Harry looked up at me, confused. "I have one more present for you, well, it's two wrapped in one."

Harry laughed. "Really Gia, this is more than enough for a lifetime."

I waggled my eyebrows. "I swear you'll appreciate this one." Before he could speak, I ran from the Christmas Room and to the front door. Flinging open the door, I looked out and standing on the path was Harry's last two parents. I flexed the wards mentally, allowing them to come in.

"Hello Gia, it's nice to see you again." The first one said, pulling me into a quick hug. The second one barked, and let me scratch his ears. "Is Harry dying of curiosity?" the first one asked. I laughed and led them back into the house.

"Of course," I said.

I led them to the Christmas Room, and whistled. Everyone looked up, and as soon as Harry laid eyes on the man, and then the dog, his eyes popped and he jumped up from the floor. Sprinting towards us, I stepped out of the way as Harry crashed into the man, knocking them both to the floor, where the dog barked and yipped, jumping around and trying to lick Harry's face.

"Remus! S-Snuffles!" Harry yelled, his voice slightly muffled.

"Harry…love you…but…squishing me…can't breathe!" Remus gasped out. Blushing, Harry stood up and offered Remus his hand. He took it, and allowed Harry to pull him up. Snuffles jumped up, placing his paws on Harry's chest, and whining. Harry laughed and scratched the huge, black dog's head fondly.

"H-How are you two here?" Harry asked in wonder.

Remus smiled. "Your beautiful girlfriend there arranged this months ago, she wanted us to surprise you." He explained.

Harry stared at me with such warmth and gratitude in his eyes… I damn near melted on the spot. "Thank you," he said, his eyes conveying what words couldn't.

We all settled back into the Christmas Rooms where greetings and introductions were exchanged, of course no one there except Hermione, Ron, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knew who Snuffles really was. Well, besides Harry, Remus, and me, of course.

"Gia!" Hermione gasped dramatically, clutching her heart.

"What?" I asked warily.

"You haven't opened your presents yet." She pointed out.

I blushed lightly, having forgotten all about my pile. Starting with the odd shaped package, I pulled out a deep royal purple knit sweater with the letter _G_ on it.

"It's a Weasley sweater," Ron explained. "Mum makes one for all of us every Christmas."

I felt my eyes well up, and I pulled Mrs. Weasley in a tight hug, murmuring thanks in her ear. When we pulled apart, I saw that she was a bit teary as well. Using a quick spell, I exchanged Harry's t-shirt that I had been wearing for my very own Weasley sweater, which fit perfectly, and was extremely warm and cozy. Next, I got a plane ticket in a little box from Dan and Jane.

"A ticket to Italy?" I asked.

Hermione's parents smiled at mine and Hermione's surprised expressions. "It was a surprise. We three were going on a small vacation to Italy for two weeks this summer, and we figured, why not include Hermione's best girl friend." Jane explained.

"I'd love that. I actually own a villa in Italy if you would be interested in staying their? It's in Sorrento." I offered. The three Grangers were ecstatic.

Then, I got small box from Hermione separately. Opening it, I saw a small braided bracelet with colorful little wooden beads on it, spelling out _Bestfriends_. Hermione's face was incredibly red as she explained. "I-It's something muggle girls do…when they have really close best girl friends. They give each other those bracelets. If you don't like it—"

I cut Hermione off by pulling her in a tight, heartfelt hug until I felt her ribs protest, and then I quickly let go. As Hermione gulped in air, I slipped it over my wrist, where it would stay for years to come. "I absolutely _love_ it Hermione, and I really appreciate what it represents. You know I consider you the sister I never had." I said obviously.

Next, I opened a _huge_ flat rectangular box that contained a picture frame. Inside the frame was an enlarged picture of our whole, extended group: me, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Terry, and the twins, all walking up the path towards Hogwarts, smiling and laughing. In the bottom right corner, all of them had signed their names. Once again, I felt my eyes tear up. "I-" my voice broke, and I felt Harry bring his arms around me.

"I told you she'd be speechless." Ron said teasingly to Hermione.

I raised an eyebrow, fighting back the tears. Damn emotions…

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was actually Ron's idea, so technically, it's his gift."

I beamed at the redhead. "Well, thank you very much Ron, this is absolutely brilliant. I'll hang this up in whatever room I'm living in at the time." I promise honestly, causing the boy to blush and duck his head.

I got a plant that started to wilt when someone you were close to was in danger from Ginny and Neville; a carefully warded jewelry box with a black wolf engraved on the lid from Bill; a Blue-Winged Griffin talon that was attached to a black cord that I placed around my neck from Charlie; a huge box of pranking material from the twins, and a feather from a white phoenix from the Lovegoods, though I had absolutely no idea how they had managed to get it. I profusely thanked each and every one of them, almost overwhelmed by the love and generosity from each of them.

Hermione handed me a tube usually used for posters. "Viktor gave this to me to give to you; he wanted it to be a surprise."

"Viktor?" Ron asked. "As in, Viktor _Krum?_"

Hermione laughed. "Honestly Ron, you know Gia and Viktor are friends."

Ignoring this exchange and the impressed looks from everyone else, I pulled out the poster, unrolled it, and gasped. "Th-this is a _signed_ poster from the entire current Holyhead Harpies team!" I screamed. Ginny squeaked and ran over to me, staring at the poster. We burst into excited chatter about the favorite, all girls' quidditch team we shared.

"Who are the Holyhead Harpies?" Dan asked.

I showed him the moving poster of the team. "They're the _only_ all girl Quidditch team in the whole professional league. They're having a great season too, almost undefeated!" I gushed.

"What's that, at the bottom there?" Dan asked, pointing to the bottom left corner.

I peered at it, and my knees literally buckled. I fell to the floor, and Harry looked alarmed until he saw the rather stupid, ecstatic smile on my face. "The captain, _Gwenog Jones_, wrote a note to me, personally!" I yelled.

Ginny's eyes popped. "What did she say!?"

"She said, _'Dear Gia, we, the Harpies, heard about your very rare talent for Quidditch from our mutual friend, Viktor Krum. He was positively gushing to us about how great you are, and you're only fifteen! Coming from Viktor, that's like saying you'll be the next Merlin. I swear that kid doesn't like anybody. Anyway, you've caught our interest. We can't wait to send recruiters out to see you when you're a bit older, perhaps your seventh year. We'll be watching, Gwenog Jones.'_" I read out.

Ginny and I stared from each other, to the poster, and back again, utterly speechless. "Wow…" we breathed simultaneously.

"Well, Viktor did say that he would talk to some recruiters for you, if you were interested." Harry commented. "I guess he put in a good word with the Harpies personally, instead."

"This is absolutely…" I squeezed the air, unable to form proper words, but everyone seemed to understand. Harry grinned.

"Well, if you love it that much, I guess you don't want my present…" he teased.

Immediately, the poster was rolled up, gently placed back in its tube, and I was seated in front of Harry expectantly. "Cough it up, Potter." I growled playfully. Harry gave me a quick peck, and handed me a small box.

"This was my idea, but Remus and Snuffles actually made it happen, so technically, it's from all of us." He started. Feeling excitement bubbling inside of me, I opened the small black box, and my eyes practically jumped from their sockets.

"Oh Harry…" I whispered softly. Inside, nestled in red satin cloth, was the most beautiful heart-shaped red diamond gemstone surrounded by tiny white diamonds, on a pure silver band. On the bands, the words '_Of all the world's beauties, you're the rarest'_ was engraved.

Harry looked nervous at the look on everyone's face. "It's not like an engagement ring…" he stammered out, and we noted the relief on the adults' faces. "It's the ring my dad gave to my mum when he finally got her to be his girlfriend, after years of chasing her and asking her out, only to be turned down."

I felt a single tear slip out and slide down my cheek, upon seeing it, Harry looked alarmed. "I'm sorry Gia, of course you don't like it, I—"

I cut him off, pulling him into a deep kiss, but breaking apart before it got inappropriate. I stared into Harry's eyes. "Of _course_ I love it Harry, and I'll treasure it and protect it always. This…this means more to me than even Viktor's poster." That seemed to mean something to Harry, and he smiled softly, giving me a quick peck.

Now that gifts were done, having taken longer than we'd thought, Mrs. Granger and Jane retreated into the kitchen to finish up Christmas dinner, while everyone else separated to do different things. I let Harry slide the ring onto my right ring finger, where it would also stay for years to come.

I pulled Harry, Remus, and Snuffles up to my room, locking the door so that Sirius could change back. When he did, he pulled his godson into a proper hug. After they had settled, I grinned at them. "Remus," I said in a sing-song voice, drawing out the vowels.

"Yes?" he drawled sarcastically.

I waggled my finger. "Now, now, unless you play nice you won't get your Christmas gift." I teased.

He raised an eyebrow. "And why couldn't it have been given downstairs?" he asked warily.

I shrugged. "It's a private matter. Now, I wonder if you've noticed my… wolfish traits?" I asked.

Remus nodded. "The amber eyes…the fangs…" he said.

"Exactly, now, you've probably already pieced together that I'm a Lycan." Another nod.

"What's the difference?" Harry asked.

"The unsweetened version, then?" I asked Remus, who agreed. "You see, there are two types of… wolf people, for lack of a better word. There's the Lycans, and then the Werewolves. The werewolves are the ones that are forced to change during every full moon, their minds completely taken over by the mind and instincts of a wolf. A werewolf would kill and eat its own best friend without a second though, unless its wolf side truly considers that person as part of their pack."

Seeing that Harry was completely absorbed in the lesson, I continued. "Then, there are my people, the Lycans. Lycans are people that can change into wolf form at will, but on the full moon, we're at our most powerful, and can do practically anything. If a Lycan is also a witch or wizard, their magic is at its peak, as well. When we change, our forms aren't like the sad creatures that werewolves become. We look exactly like normal wolves, only we're the size of war horses, and we all keep at least one trait of our human self, like eyes, or a birthmark or something."

"I thought you said you didn't change?" Harry asked.

I shrugged. "It wasn't until earlier in the week, when I was reading an old diary from my grandfather, that I learned that young Lycans have to come into their full powers before they can transform which, interesting enough, is our sixteenth birthday."

Harry's eyes widened. "But, that's only in a few days…" he said.

"Exactly. Anyway, Lycans are more powerful than a werewolf in every way, simply because we are not cursed and forced to change, and we change because we _want_ to. Werewolves are constantly tired and in pain, even when it's not the full moon, and Lycans aren't because we aren't forced to change. And while the Ministry is rather prejudiced against both werewolves and Lycans, they generally like us better because, even in wolf form, we keep our human minds." I said, trying to explain it in a way that wasn't offensive to Remus, but he seemed fine.

"So, why are you telling me all this?" Harry asked.

"Well, one, you asked about the difference." I stated, making Harry blush, "And two, I want you all to understand _why_ Lycan blood is stronger than werewolf blood, therefore, there is a _very_ good chance that my blood would overpower Remus's…" I hinted.

"Overpowering his werewolf curse, but perhaps changing him into a Lycan." Sirius finished.

"Precisely," I said.

Remus looked stunned. "Y-you'd really do that, for me?" he asked.

"Of course," I said obviously. "It involves you drinking half a pint of my blood, but if it helps, I'm all for it. The last full moon was exactly a week ago from today, on the 18th, so you must still be aching from the transforming. We can do this now, if you want."

Remus looked at Sirius and Harry, who both nodded encouragingly. I conjured a cup, and handed it to Remus. Before anyone could react, I had cut my wrist with a spell, and began squeezing out blood into the cup. I could measure it simply by eyeballing it, and when it had filled with exactly eight ounces, I healed the cut. "Bottoms up, Lupin." I said.

Looking a bit green, Remus held his nose, closed his eyes, and downed the cup in one gulp. He shuddered as he swallowed but he got it all down. He peered at us owlishly, before promptly passing out.

"Shit…"

Sirius and Harry hovered over Remus until I cast a diagnostic charm on him, sighing in relief. "He's fine, and it looks like my blood is winning the fight. He should be awake in time for dinner."

For the next two hours, Harry, Sirius, and I caught up with each other, swapping stories and such. "…and so I figured that if it's the mark that's getting darker, it means that Voldemort is getting stronger…again." I finished.

Sirius sighed deeply, and stared at Harry and me. "You really are too brilliant for you own good, Gia, more so than even Hermione, but don't let her know I told you that." He added quickly.

"So, am I right or am I right?" I asked.

The man sighed again. "Unfortunately, you're right about it being the dark mark, and what that entails. I also agree with you that Karkaroff is too much of a coward to be helping Voldemort now, especially after he betrayed his fellow Death Munchers."

I snorted. "Death Munchers?" I asked.

Sirius laughed his bark of a laugh. "With a ridiculous name like _Death Eaters_, why give it dignity? If you ever got into a duel with one, though I hope you never do, call them a Death Muncher, and see what happens."

I shook my head. "Somehow, I can all too clearly imagine you doing just that."

It was at that moment, that we heard Remus stirring and checked up on him, staring in amazement at how much younger and healthier he looked. "What?" he asked blearily.

"Nothing," we all said innocently.

"How do you feel, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"I feel bloody fantastic!" Remus grinned.

We laughed and headed down to dinner, luckily, no one commented on Remus's change. As a sort of Christmas gift to both Remus and Sirius, I gave them full access to one of my smaller properties closer to Hogwarts so that they could be out of the way but closer to Harry. After a long, filling Christmas feast, I took Harry's invitation to my party and tapped it with my wand. Everything on the invitation disappeared, and one sentence replaced it: _Due to unpredictable and unavoidable circumstances, my party is cancelled until further notice; please keep the invitation to find out when, as no one will be issued a new one._

"You're cancelling your birthday bash?" Hermione asked, surprised, as we headed up to our rooms.

"Rescheduling," I said.

I quickly explained to her and Ron about my sixteenth birthday, and they nodded in understanding. "It's most likely for the best then," Hermione said, "since we don't know what'll happen when you come into your full powers."

"That's my exact reasoning." I said.

I just wish I knew more…


	25. Rita Skeeter, You Should Be Ashamed

_**A/N: I suppose that I'm more liberal with posting chapters now seeing as I'm about to start writing the sequel. I just finished writing this fic moments ago, and I have to say that I'm extremely proud of myself. Of all the fics that I've started, I have never finished one until now. **_

_**I'm not sad to be done writing this fic, because I still have three more in this series to write. In my opinion, this story is far from over. On the contrary, I'd say that this is just the beginning. I'll probably keep up my liberal chapter posting, and when I've posted them all (there are thirty-eight chapters), then I'll immediately start posting the sequel. Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_We laughed and headed down to dinner, luckily, no one commented on Remus's change. After a long, filling Christmas feast, I took Harry's invitation to my party and tapped it with my wand. Everything on the invitation disappeared, and one sentence replaced it: __**Due to unpredictable and unavoidable circumstances, my party is cancelled until further notice; please keep the invitation to find out when, as no one will be issued a new one.**_

"_You're cancelling your birthday bash?" Hermione asked, surprised, as we headed up to our rooms._

"_Rescheduling," I said._

_I quickly explained to her and Ron about my sixteenth birthday, and they nodded in understanding. "It's most likely for the best then," Hermione said, "since we don't know what'll happen when you come into your full powers."_

"_That's my exact reasoning." I said._

_I just wish I knew more…_

_**Chapter Twenty-Five**_

To my complete and utter disappointment, my birthday passed rather anticlimactically, and I felt as though I had cancelled my party for no reason. On New Years', I had awoken in the middle of the forest in my wolf form, but that was it. I had the lake's reflection to peer at myself, and preened at my snow white fur. I was a giant arctic wolf, but there was an odd slash of bright blood red fur on my stomach. At first, I had thought I was bleeding until I inspected it closer. After that, I had found my way back to the house and changed back rather easily. Of course, I had gathered up the trio, Remus, and Sirius, and showed them my form in my room. They thought it was incredibly cool, and Harry almost got himself bitten when he tried to yank my tail.

Over breakfast, I had opened my birthday presents, mostly books and beautiful jewelry from everyone, even Harry, who gave me a ruby hair comb to match the ring. It was beautiful, and I loved it. The best part, however, about those days was at twelve o'clock, just as it became my birthday, when Harry and I shared our first official New Years' kiss. Other than that, the holidays passed rather easily, and soon we were back at the castle, and back in lessons.

We were also back to the stress of the looming date of the Second Task that would be arriving in February. So far, Harry hadn't done anything to solve the egg, and I knew that he was bound to be a bundle of nerves at this point, even if he hadn't said anything about it. That day, the trio and I walked across the freezing grounds in ponderous silence. Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that we couldn't see out of them in Herbology.

None of us were looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm us up nicely, either by chasing us, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire. When we arrived at Hagrid's cabin, however, we found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door. I felt an uneasy twist in my gut.

"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at us as we struggled toward her through the snow.

"Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.

"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.

Harsh and highly unpleasant laughter reached our ears, and the trio and I turned. Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. To my surprise, it wasn't most of them that were laughing; it was only the three that hadn't been invited to my party, Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle. Malfoy, Parkinson, and the others were barely disguising their own disgust at their house mates, but they didn't seem in the least bit amused nor were they surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbaton horses were shivering. The trio and I followed her, looking back over our shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said.

"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy.

This lady was really starting to get on my nerves, and I forced down my inner wolf as I spoke, my voice dripping ice. "But we do mind, so tell us what's wrong with him." This made the Professor pause in her footsteps for a fraction of a second, and she looked over her shoulder at me. I raised an eyebrow challengingly, and she turned and kept walking, ignoring me.

I took a step forward but Harry grabbed my wrist, pulling me back. "Just leave it, love. We'll figure it out later." He murmured. Rolling my eyes, we continued to follow her.

She led us past the paddock where the huge Beauxbaton horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered. Many of the girls ooh'ed at the sight of the unicorn, and even I had to gasp at its magnificence.

"Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.

"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. I shot her a heated glare, but Harry tugged my hand. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it..."

As the Professor and the other girls, including Hermione walked forward, the boys remained behind. I hesitated though, and Harry looked at me. "What's wrong, Gia? Don't you want to go pet the unicorn?" he asked.

I leaned forward, towards his ear. "But my wolf…" I whispered. "It won't like that." Harry's eyes widened.

"You can't like… suppress it or something?" He asked, just as softly. I shrugged.

"I have no idea, but I suppose I could try." Focusing inward, I felt my inner wolf lounging around my magic core. I tried to relax, and as I did, she seemed to perk up, aware of the connection. I somewhat mentally nudged her towards my core, and she seemed to understand, as she _entered_ the ball of power, and lied down, curling up. For the first time in months, I felt less wolfish but also more in touch with my magic than ever.

Looking up at Harry, I saw that his eyes were incredibly wide, and he was staring at me. "What?" I asked.

He brushed a stray curly strand of hair from my face. "You're eyes aren't glowing anymore…and your teeth aren't as noticeable." He murmured. True enough, as I ran my tongue over my teeth, I felt that were only slightly sharp, and certainly not as long. I felt almost normal. I reached up and kissed Harry's cheek.

"Thanks for the suggestion, Harry." I said happily, before hurrying over to Hermione, who was slowly approaching the unicorn. It truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire life. I lowered myself slightly near the unicorn, and waited for a second. Very slowly, it walked over to me, grace and light beaming from its every pore. It pushed its muzzle into my cupped hands, and I gently pet it, feeling such an overwhelming happiness overcome me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled happily at Harry, who pulled what I recognized as my little camera out of his robe, and snapped a few pictures. Hermione joined me, and we posed for some pictures with the unicorn and the other girls, and even Professor Grubbly-Plank looked… not as unpleasant. After a few more minutes, I looked over my shoulder to see how my boys were doing, when I saw Bulstrode sneer and say something, obviously scathing to Harry and Ron.

Standing up straight, I patted the unicorn's head and walked back over to the boys. "…hate to break it to you, Potter." Bulstrode said in a snarky manner.

I glared at her. "What's going on over here?" I asked Harry. Bulstrode pulled out a folded piece of newsprint from her robes, and held it out. I snatched it from her hand, and opened it, aware of Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus crowded over my shoulders. On the front, was a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

_**DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE**_

_Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures. _

_Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man,__ Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. _

_While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening. "'A friend of mine was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Millicent Bulstrode, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything." _

_Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions. _

_"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not—as he has always pretended—a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown._

_Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. _

_If his antics during Care of Magical Creature lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature. In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power-thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend—but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants._

I finished reading the article aloud, and I crushed the paper in my hand, shaking with barely contained fury. Whatever had been holding my inner wolf back had sure broke, because she was snarling again. I glared at the Slytherins and stormed forward, poking Malfoy in the chest so harshly, he took a step back. "Malfoy, you—you," I growled, unable to form a complete thought. "I can't believe I actually started to think that any of you were at least slightly decent!"

"Gia, we didn't know!" Daphne yelled desperately, her eyes wide with fear.

All of us Gryffindors froze and said, "What!?"

This time Pansy spoke as she held Malfoy's arm. He was rubbing his chest on the spot where I had poked him. "You heard her Grey, we didn't know. It was Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle. They came in the common room looking all too pleased with themselves but we hadn't found out until this morning when the article came out." She explained.

I softened enough to apologize to Malfoy before rounding on the three responsible. "What the hell do you mean 'all of us hate Hagrid,'?" I growled. Bulstrode suddenly didn't look too pleased with herself.

"And what're you playing at with that rubbish that he," Harry spat, pointing at Crabbe, "was bitten by a flobberworm? Those things haven't even got teeth!" Crabbe sniggered.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Bulstrode, her eyes glinting. "Half-giant... And there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young... None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all... They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha..."

I advanced on her. "Why you –" As usual, I immediately felt several people hold me back as I fought to get at that evil cow. She had stepped back out of my reach, and though she was smirking, I knew it was all bravado. I could sense her fear. And she knew that should I break free, she had better run as fast as those stubby, hairy legs could carry her.

"Are you paying attention over there?" Professor Grubbly-Planks voice carried over to our crowd; the Gryffindor girls were all clustered around the unicorn still, stroking it. I could see that Harry was angry, and I was still shaking, the Daily Prophet article still completely crushed in my angry fist.

Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that we could hear too, the many magical properties of the unicorn, and I shook free of Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Harry and Ron had both been too angry to even bother to hold me back; no doubt wishing the other three had let me thrash Bulstrode. I took a step toward the large girl, and though I was at least four or five inches shorter than her, I seemed much taller than her in my angry. I leaned close to her ugly, chubby face and if looks could kill, she would've been buried six times over.

"You'll get yours Bulstrode." I hissed, dark promise in my voice. I looked at Malfoy as the bell rang. "Control your pets!" I snapped.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and we were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would belike... Proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters..."

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as we went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

I glared at her.

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as we entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni—"

"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's. "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"

"No," said Harry, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."

"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.

"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Harry.

I viciously took a bite out of my sandwich. "She's not even allowed in the bloody school! Dumbledore banned her!" I snarled, chewing harshly.

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."

"Like you and Gia did, you mean," said Hermione.

"You _know _we hadn't done that on purpose!" I snapped. She recoiled but I didn't apologize, I was still fuming. How dare that Skeeter woman ruin Hagrid like that?

"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after training. Tell him we want him back... You do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

"I—well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once—but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.

So that evening after dinner, the four of us left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. We knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"

Hagrid didn't answer. We could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. We hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.

"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione said when we had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"

But it seemed that Hagrid did care, because we didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, we didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Bulstrode was gloating at every possible opportunity.

"Missing your half-breed pal?" she kept whispering to us whenever there was a teacher around, so that she was safe from my retaliation. "Missing the elephant-man?" After that one, Ron had had to actually toss me over his shoulder and carry me back to the castle because I had lunged at Bulstrode.

Halfway through January, which had been a _very_ long and stressful month so far, Harry and I woke up together on Saturday morning. Rolling out of bed, I grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along, despite his groans.

"It's Saturday Gia! You know… that day where we _don't _have class?" he protested, but got up anyway. I began pulling him into the bathroom.

"I don't care. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, and we desperately need something fun." I growled, starting the shower. After a quick, joint shower that included very little touching besides kisses, Harry and I retreated to our closet to dress for the day. As I was picking out an outfit, I heard Hermione knock on the bedroom door.

"Are we going to Hogsmeade?" she called.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. "We're getting dressed, give us a minute." Hermione yelled an affirmative, and I finally decided. I put on black lace tights with a wild floral design, black shorts, black boots, and a dark green shirt. Over it, I wore a long wool cardigan. Harry wore jeans, a dark green shirt, and matching trainers, with a simple black jacket.

"You look great, as always Gia," Harry said, grabbing his wand, "but won't you be freezing outside?"

I shook my head. "Warming charms fix that little problem, thankfully." I said. We joined Ron and Hermione, and left East Tower.

"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked. "She wasn't in her room."

Smiling, I said, "She has a date with Terry."

"I'm surprised you want to go to Hogsmeade at all, Harry." Hermione said as we walked through the corridors. He rolled his eyes.

"I was very unwilling to get out of bed, I assure you." He drawled, shooting me a tired look. I grinned and pecked his cheek.

"That's not what I meant. I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the castle being quiet," she said. "Really get to work on that egg."

Looking at Harry, I could sense a lie coming, and saved him from it. "Don't worry about that Hermione, we'll figure it out later. I'll make sure of it." I said.

Harry squeezed my hand in thanks, though Hermione rolled her eyes and let it go. We left the castle soon after and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As we passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, we saw Viktor emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.

"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Viktor's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"

"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron.

When we got to Hogsmeade, we immediately headed into the Three Broomsticks, where Harry was promptly pulled away by Ludo Bagman. When he returned about ten minutes later, he looked incredibly confused. He sat down beside me, automatically taking my hand in one of his, while using the other to drink from his mug of butterbeer. We were just relaxing, chatting amicably, when the spectacled devil appeared.

"Harry!" she said, beaming, "Why don't you come and join me?" Harry tightened his hand on mine.

"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"

Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows. "Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my-"

"Who cares if he's a half-giant?" I shouted, standing up suddenly. I felt my heart thudding furiously in my chest, in time with my inner wolf pacing. "There is nothing wrong with him, you stupid, interfering, judgmental bitch!"

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing. Rita's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, then? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it? Would you call him a father substitute?"

Hermione stood up very abruptly as well, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade. "You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman—"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl..."

"You had better watch who you're talking to, you cow." I snarled. "Because I doubt any of these people in this pub would lift a single finger to help you if I got a bit wand happy." I grabbed Harry's hand. "Let's go." I said. We left very quickly, the entire pub watching us in silence; Harry glanced back as we reached the door, and I followed his eyes. Rita's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.

"She'll be after you both next," said Ron in a low and worried voice as we walked quickly backup the street. Harry agreed.

"He's right. Hermione, you just called her out in front of all those people, and she already hates Gia for keeping her away from me. She's not going to let this go. She will come after you both." He explained.

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this! Poor Hagrid."

I nodded angrily. "I'll destroy that bitch! And she's knows that, which is why she hasn't come after me yet. I dare her to try." I growled.

"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you—"

"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione.

Hermione and I were both riding on rage, we were striding so fast, the boys were hard put to keep up, and poor Harry was being dragged along because I hadn't let go of his hand. "And I'm sick of Hagrid hiding out in his hut!" I snapped. "He should've never let that miserable old hag upset him! Come on!" I said.

Breaking into a run, the trio ran behind me all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin. The curtains were still drawn, and we could hear Fang barking as we approached. "Hagrid!" I shouted, pounding furiously on the door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that damned Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being—"

The door opened, and I had to still my raised fist, because suddenly, there was Headmaster Dumbledore. "Good afternoon," he said, smiling down at us.

"We want to speak to Hagrid." I said boldly, lowering my hand.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"

Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Grey was shouting, Hagrid?"

I felt my face get slightly hot, but Dumbledore smiled at me and continued, "Gia, Hermione, Harry, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow—sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.

"Err-right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant- Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that – woman – wrote about you?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard. "Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it—"

"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."

"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

"Yeh—yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.

"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"

"And we all know that I'm not even completely human either," I added seriously. Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid peered at my fangs and eyes, seeing my point. "But I hold my head up high, proud of who I am and what I am, every day!"

"Excellent points," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery..." I just barely suppressed a snort.

"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."

"Yeah Hagrid," Ron said softly, "Care of Magical Creatures is just absolutely not the same without you."

"It's not _right_ without you." I added.

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard. Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fangs ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore... Great man..."

"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"

"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "He's righ', o' course—yeh're all righ'... I bin stupid... My ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'..."

More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here..." Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder.

Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth—he looked hardly older than eleven.

"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed ... Thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum ... Well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really... But at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year..."

"Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job... Trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances ... Tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren' ... Well... All tha' respectable. But some don understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh... There's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than standup an' say—I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed, ' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with. ' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones... I'll give her big bones. "

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously, while I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeh know wha, Harry?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it... An' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"

He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love. Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... Yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"

"Great," said Harry. "Really great."

Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. "Tha's my boy... You show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all. "

I knew that lying to Hagrid wasn't anywhere the same as lying to anyone else, and I knew that Harry probably felt like the world's largest prat at that moment.


	26. The Golden Egg

_Previous Chapter:_

_He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love. Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... Yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"_

_"Great," said Harry. "Really great."_

_Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. "Tha's my boy... You show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all. "_

_I knew that lying to Hagrid wasn't anywhere the same as lying to anyone else, and I knew that Harry probably felt like the world's largest prat at that moment._

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

"Harry, Cedric already warned you about the egg." I said that night, as Harry sat at the desk, staring at it. He sighed and sat back.

"I know, but his clue made no sense. He said to 'take a bath with it'." Harry said, actually using air quotes.

"Well then, I think it has something more to do with water, rather than actually bathing with it, come on." I said, getting out of bed. Harry and I entered the bathroom, but instead of heading over to the shower stall, I started to fill the huge bath with lukewarm water. When it was filled, I used a spell to change my pajamas into a bikini, and Harry's pajamas into black swim trunks.

I took one of his hands, and he used the other to hold the egg, and we stepped into the pool, wading out until I was up to my shoulders, but the water only came to Harry's chest. He held the egg underwater, but nothing happened. "Open it," I said obviously, taking a guess.

Slowly, Harry undid the clasp and let the egg fall open. Open, it did not wail and I heard the faint sound of music coming from under the water. "We have to duck under water to hear it!" I exclaimed. Taking the egg from Harry, I closed it again to start it over, and looked at him. "Ready?"

"Yeah, just do it." Harry said. I counted to three, and we both submerged ourselves completely underwater, our hair fanning out, twisting and waving in the water. I opened the egg again, only this time we heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to us from the egg in my hands.

"_Come seek us where our voice sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground, _

_And while you're searching ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_To recover what we took, _

_But past an hour –the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it's won't come back."_

As soon as the song faded away, I closed the egg, and Harry and I came up for air. "We need Hermione and Ron," I said, putting the egg on the black marble floor. "so we can solve this together. And Luna too, she's a freaking Ravenclaw."

I lifted myself out of the bath, as did Harry, and we wrapped ourselves in towels. I scooped up the egg in my arms, and we left the bathroom. I dropped the egg onto my bed, and we went out into the common room, knocking on all three doors of occupied rooms. After gathering the three back in my room, we settled. And as I towel-dried my hair, I explained what we'd done and heard.

I repeated the poem again while Hermione wrote it down. "The poem itself is rather easy to understand." I said, leaning back onto my pillows.

Ron and Harry stared at me, while Luna and Hermione agreed. "And how is it easy to understand? What does it mean?" Ron asked.

"It means that the champions," I said, "have only one hour to retrieve something from the Black Lake, or lose it for good."

The boys raised their eyebrows, and even Hermione looked confused. "I'd figured out the retrieve an object part, that was rather obvious, but how did you come up with the Black Lake?"

"The song is a mermaid's song," I started, "like, a real mermaid, not the mythical creatures in muggle movies. I should've recognized that screeching sound before. That's what they sound like out of water. Anyway, mermaids are water-dwelling creatures, and it says '_come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground,'_ meaning they've taken it _into_ the water. One line says '_the prospect's black_', so I figured it's a reference to the task's location, the Black Lake."

They all stared at me, clearly impressed. "That strangely makes sense," Harry said, "but how do we know what object they're taking? We'd have to figure that out if I'm going to search a bloody lake for it. Plus, I have to be able to actually _breathe_ underwater for an hour to find the object, and not freeze to death!"

I could see him getting worked up, so I flicked his nose, bringing him back. "Calm down Harry, one problem at a time."

"So, what's important enough that you're willing to go into the freezing lake to get it?" Ron asked. My eyes lit up.

"Ron, you're a bloody genius!" I exclaimed, sitting up straight. Ron looked bemused, but pleased.

"Why is Ron a genius?" Harry asked.

"Because he just gave me a thought." I said. "I don't think it's an object you have to retrieve…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because if something means that much to you, if it's important enough that you're willing to risk your life to get it back, then wouldn't it already be in a safe place, locked away?" Luna piped up. "It would be somewhere that nobody else would be able to get to it, including the tournament's organizers."

"And if that's the case, there would be no task to watch." Hermione said slowly, catching on.

"Exactly, none of you would probably risk your lives for an object that other people had easy access to." I said. Harry nodded slowly.

"Alright, I see what you mean. Anything that has that much sentimental value to me is locked away in my trunk, which is up here, a place no one knows about. None of it can be summoned, thanks to the wards Gia put up. And if it's not in my trunk, then it can be replaced, and I wouldn't risk my life for it." He said.

"Precisely, and I'm sure the organizers will have thought of that. So, if they can't take an object, they'll take…" I trailed off expectantly.

"It's a person!" Hermione yelled suddenly, finally realizing. "They're going to take the _person_ you'll miss the most, someone you'd certainly risk your life going into that lake for!"

We all fell silent, letting the realization sink in.

"If that's the case, then it's surely one of you. I'd say that it's Hermione or Ron, or even Luna, but everyone knows that Gia and I are dating, so it's most likely to be you." Harry said, wrapping his arms protectively around me.

"There's nothing you can do Harry, if they really want to make me your hostage. You'll just have to rescue me." I said, looking at him. "I trust you to rescue me."

We shared a quick but loving kiss, before getting back to business. "I'll do whatever it takes to save you, but how do I breathe for an hour underwater?"

"Well," Luna began, "Neville was showing me one of those books that Professor Moody had given him. It had one plant…Gillyweed, it was called. It lets you grow gills and flippers, the time slot depends on how much you eat."

"That sounds promising, but how do I get it?" Harry asked.

"Prim!" I called suddenly. Immediately, the little house-elf popped onto the bed, bounced, and curtsied.

"Yes, Miss Gia?" she asked.

"Can you go to one of the Herbology greenhouses and see if you can find some Gillyweed? Don't be seen, and bring it back in a jar, please?" I instructed. Nodding, Prim popped away. "Problem solved." I said smugly. Fifteen minutes later, Prim returned and handed me a jar of the little plant. It looked like a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails.

Harry looked a bit green himself. "I have to eat that?" he choked out. I hummed.

"If you want to rescue me, you do." I said. He groaned lightly.

"Fine, but only for you." He said, kissing my forehead. With that problem solved, the others bid us goodnight, and retreated back to their own rooms. That night, as I slept, I had a dream…or more like a vision. _It was about Harry, as practically all of my visions seemed to revolve around him. He seemed to be wandering about the school under his cloak, but I could still see him. He was holding the egg and the Marauder's Map. I watched as he used the prefects' bath to solve the egg, with Myrtle's flirtatious help. Afterwards, he dropped his bloody egg, which called the attention of not only Filch, but also Snape and Moody. They promptly had a fight, speculating about various things before Harry revealed himself secretly to Moody, who ended up helping him._

_In the end, Harry let Moody borrow the Map, and he returned to bed._

When the vision finished, I was left with quite a few questions, like why was Crouch pretending to be ill, if he could manage to get to Hogwarts when he wanted to? Why was he wandering about the school at one in the morning? And what did Moody think Snape was concealing in his office?

"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" said Hermione indignantly.

"Keep your voice down!" said Harry crossly. "And it was only a vision, it didn't actually happen, and it doesn't need to now that we have solved it!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to ourselves. We were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today –the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target.

It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room—Professor Flitwick, for instance.

"Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" I hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past us, landing on top of a large cabinet. "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody..."

This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay us any attention. I had been recounting them with my vision from the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour, absently banishing stray cushions that flew towards us.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off). What... D'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," I said. I watched as Harry waved his wand without really paying much attention, so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something..."

"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

"Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head skeptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?" She Banished a cushion and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at.

Harry looked at Hermione, obviously thinking...

"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on. "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit—"

"Evil," said Ron promptly. "Come on Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.

"You just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly, and his cushion, to our very great surprise, flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.

"In my opinion," I said, banishing another cushion, causing it to land neatly on top of Harry's, "most of the mystery revolves around Moody."

The trio looked at me. "What?" they said in unison.

"Well, think about it. If Dumbledore _did_ tell Moody to search Snape's office, then he was only doing his job, but even if Dumbledore didn't, then why would he feel that he had to? Why doesn't Moody trust Snape? Why doesn't Moody like Snape at all? And Harry's right, what did Snape do with his first chance?" None of them had any answers.

Obedient to Sirius's wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Harry sent him a letter by brown owl that night, explaining all about Mr. Crouch breaking into Snape s office, and Moody and Snape's conversation, phrasing it as if had actually happened to him so as not to reveal my gift.

As the second task approached, I forced the trio back into the Room of Requirement more, during our free periods, breaks, evening, and even throughout the whole weekends. I pushed them through harsh training and all of them, even Ron, were improving tremendously. None of them, not even Harry, could beat me in a duel yet, but I hadn't expected them to. They had mastered plenty of new spells of all sorts, their physical training had taken off, and the various skills I taught them were becoming fixated in their brains. I had a growing bad feeling in my gut as time went on, and soon there was only two days left until the second task.

Monday morning at breakfast, I noticed that Harry wasn't eating and piled food on his plate. "Harry, don't make me force feed you. Eat."

"Yes mum," he grumbled. I knew he was just stressed, and I rubbed his back soothingly as he forced down the breakfast. As the usual invasion of owls swooped into the Great Hall, the arrival of the brown owl from Sirius seemed to pick Harry up more. He pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and saw the shortest letter Sirius had ever written to him.

_Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl._

Harry turned the parchment over and looked at the back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank. "Weekend after next," I whispered, having read the note over his shoulder. "Here—take my quill and send this owl back straight away."

Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius's letter, tied it onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again.

"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron.

"Dunno," said Harry. "Come on ... Care of Magical Creatures."

Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, we didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.

Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.

"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies... Don mind boys so much... C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want... Give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps..."

I kneeled on the ground, letting one of the little unicorns come to me. It was a boy, and the other was a girl. I fed him sugar lumps, petting him and cooing lovingly to him. He made a cute little whinnying sound and rubbed his muzzle against my face. I heard several clicks, looked to see that Harry had once again snapped several pictures with my camera. As I petted the foal with Hermione and some of the other students, I stretched out my hearing a bit, and heard Hagrid give Harry a very heartfelt pep talk. At the end of it, Harry looked considerably happier.

That night, after much last minute training, I dragged Harry and the others to the Gryffindor common room to relax in a familiar place before the task tomorrow. We were talking and laughing, finally relaxing, when Fred and George popped up. "What do you two want?" Ron asked, not meanly.

"McGonagall wants us to take Gia and Hermione to her office." Fred said.

"Why?" Hermione and I asked together.

"Dunno, she just told us to bring you down to her office." George repeated.

"I have a feeling I know…" I said, giving the trio an obvious look. Understanding dawned in their eyes, and Harry swept me up into a tight embrace, pulling me into a kiss so thorough I was breathless afterward.

"I'll save you." He murmured seriously. I gave him another kiss.

"I trust you." I murmured back, before spinning out of his arms. I grabbed Hermione's hand. "We know the way Gred, Forge, thanks for passing on the message." I said.

Without waiting for them to reply, I pulled Hermione out into the corridor, and we walked down to McGonagall's office. On the way, Hermione spoke up. "I know why she wants you, but why am I being called down?" I shrugged.

"I have no idea." I said honestly.

When we entered McGonagall's office, she wasn't alone. Headmaster Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Moody, and Professor Snape were all there, as well as Cedric's new girlfriend Ceria Miltes, and a beautiful young girl that looked a lot like Fleur.

"Hello Miss Grey, Miss Granger." Dumbledore greeted as we walked. We returned the sentiment and looked at everyone. "I'm not sure if you two know why you're here…"

I nodded. "We're hostages for the task, right?" I asked. The professors looked impressed.

"You figured that out?" Dumbledore asked. I shrugged nonchalantly. "Very good," he said. "Anyway, you four are here, as Miss Grey said, to be a hostage for each Champion to rescue from the depths of the Black Lake. Each of you means a great deal to one of the champions, and this will test not only their strength, smarts, and bravery, but also their loyalty to a loved one. Now,"

"E-excuse me," Hermione piped up in a small voice. Dumbledore smiled at her and nodded encouragingly. "Whose hostage am I?" she asked.

"Mr. Potter's," Dumbledore answered simply. Hermione and I raised eyebrows.

"I thought I was Harry's hostage?" I said.

"You are Mr. Krum's hostage, Miss Grey." He explained. Now, my eyebrows shot up. Hermione looked ready to protest, but I caught her eye and shook my head. _Let it go…_

"Now that that's clear, we shall be putting each of you in a special sort of sleeping stasis, so that you will, essentially, be unaware in the Lake." Dumbledore said.

"What if it wears off before our champion rescues us?" I asked.

"Or what if they don't rescue us before an hour?" Hermione added. We could tell that though Moody appreciated our caution, the other Professors were slightly exasperated.

"They won't wear off, I assure you, and the hour mark is simply how the task is judged." After that, Dumbledore had us each sit down in a chair as he put the stasis on us. He did the little girl, Gabrielle, first, and then Ceria. I hugged Hermione one last time before she too was placed under stasis, and then it was my turn.

As I sat down, I looked at all of the adults in the room. "If anything happens to Harry or Hermione while in that lake, there will be hell to pay." I said, unapologetically. And then I knew nothing….


	27. The Second Task

_**A/N: I've long since learned that I can't please everybody, but I'm quite pleased with myself right now as I'm writing Chapter Four of the sequel to this fic.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

"_What if it wears off before our champion rescues us?" I asked._

"_Or what if they don't rescue us before an hour?" Hermione added. We could tell that though Moody appreciated our caution, the other Professors were slightly exasperated. _

"_They won't wear off, I assure you, and the hour mark is simply how the task is judged." After that, Dumbledore had us each sit down in a chair as he put the stasis on us. He did the little girl, Gabrielle, first, and then Ceria. I hugged Hermione one last time before she too was placed under stasis, and then it was my turn._

_As I sat down, I looked at all of the adults in the room. "If anything happens to Harry or Hermione while in that lake, there will be hell to pay." I said, unapologetically. And then I knew nothing…._

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

The next time I'm aware, I wake up confused, cold, and very, very wet. On instinct, I took a deep breath and immediately began to choke as water rushed through my nose, burning horribly and searing all thoughts away. I began to thrash about, panic filling my entire being, fighting to hold my breath, but not having any to hold. I felt a sort of chain around my ankle, keeping me in place, and I was floating. There was a deep fire in my gut, burning hot, and I felt it spread throughout my body until a state of utter calm came over me, and I stopped thrashing.

In that second, I quickly used a partial transfiguration to grow gills. The all-consuming desire to get oxygen disappeared and I took an experimental breath. Cold water rushed into my nose, not burning this time, and came out again as I exhaled. I was breathing underwater. The revelation startled me and I cursed, only forming a gurgling sound and a trail of bubbles. Looking ahead, I saw that it was incredibly dark, all that I could see for miles around was murky shapes and dark water. I knew that I was in the lake, in the task, but I didn't know how much time I had until Viktor would come rescue me.

I saw movement in my peripheral vision, and saw two of the other hostages, Hermione and Gabrielle, chained to the lake floor, both unconscious. I saw that Ceria was already gone, and I figured that Cedric had rescued her already. Their hair waved gently with the water, and their robes floated and billowed out eerily around them. It was a rather creepy sight and I couldn't stand to see Hermione like that. I began trying to cut through the chain attached to my right ankle, but it was thick and hard.

I must've been trying for about five minutes when I picked up movement ahead of me. Peering through the darkness, I saw an oddly looking person swimming towards me. As it got closer, I saw that it was Harry, only he had webbed appendages. I waved largely at him, and he swam quickly to me, clearly worried that I was awake. He swam down to my ankle, but I tapped his shoulder and shook my head, pointing to Hermione. He looked puzzled, so I pointed at him, and then at Hermione. Somewhat understanding, he swam over to her and began working on her chain, just as a huge shark coming towards me.

I almost freaked out, until I saw a familiar body attached to it. It was Viktor. As he stopped in front of me, I saw the worry in his dark, shark eyes. He must've been worried that I was already awake, just like Harry, but I motioned that I was fine. I pointed to my ankle, and Viktor simply bit through the chain with his shark teeth. It was very effective and I was free quickly. I turned to Harry who was still having trouble with Hermione, but he motioned for us to go. Knowing that it would be unfair to hold Viktor longer, I let him pulled me up.

We were just breaking the surface to immense screaming and cheers, when I heard an odd, gurgled scream. Looking down, I saw a crowd of grindylows surrounding something. The flash of silvery blonde hair signaled that it was Fleur. She was being attacked. Getting rid of my gills, I said, "Go tell them what's happening. I'll help Fleur!" before replacing them and ducking back underwater.

Knowing that there was no time for arguing, Viktor nodded his head and swam quickly to the shore. I was glad that I was wearing shorts instead of a baggy outfit that would've weighed me down as I swam as fast as I could over to Fleur. Waving my wand, I began picking off the grindylows, using powerful cutting curses and banishing charms. Soon, they were all either dead or gone, and Fleur was left floating there. She was covered in bite and claw marks, and she was bleeding heavily. Her eyes were wide with terror, and I had to do all the work to swim her up to the surface.

For some odd reason, she fought with me all the way up, and as we broke surface, I got rid of my gills again, and found that I breathed air as normal as I always had. Though hurt, Fleur was hysterical. "No!" she shrieked, as we were pulled out of the lake and onto the dock. "My sister! Mon sœur!" she screamed repeatedly. "She is in danger!"

Finally understanding, I batted away Dumbledore's helping hand as he tried to walk me over to Madam Pomfrey. Viktor was there, and there was tons of screaming and cheering from the spectators, which only grew louder and more confused as I broke free from Dumbledore and sprinted back down the dock. At the end, without hesitation, I dived far, arms straight, and swam quickly down to where I had once been chained, following the faint smell of vanilla shampoo, which Hermione used all the time. When I got to the right place, I also saw Harry struggling to rescue both Hermione and Gabrielle.

He was startled to see me again, and I pointed to Gabrielle, and then myself. Understanding, Harry nodded. I grabbed Gabrielle, who was starting to stir, while Harry grabbed Hermione, and we swam furiously back up to the surface. As we resurfaced, I saw Harry's features return to normal, and both Hermione and Gabrielle woke up and inhaled deeply. Gabrielle was crying and screaming in French for her sister.

As we four were pulled out of the lake, we were ushered firmly over to the others. Gabrielle collapsed completely into Fleur's lap, and the two held each other, murmuring in rapid, hysteric French. Cedric and Ceria were wrapped in towels, holding each other. I didn't realize I was breathing quickly until I raked my eyes over Harry and Hermione. Though Hermione appeared completely unharmed, Harry had scratches all over his neck.

We looked at each other, and immediately came into a hug. "Hermione! Harry! Gia!" we heard yelling. We turned and opened our arms as Ron sprinted towards us, joining the hug. We ignored the incredibly loud cheering, the whistling and screaming, just glad that we were all alive. We ignored the Professors trying to separate us to heal us for several long minutes, until we finally broke apart. We were all wrapped very tightly in blankets by Madam Pomfrey and forced to drink measures of Pepper-Up Potion, which caused steam to shoot from our ears.

"Ce sont les grindylows! ils m'ont attaqué! Je pensais que ... oh Gabrielle ... J'ai été très peur!" Fleur was saying in rapid French, stroking her little sister's hair as if she had never held anything more precious. Madam Pomfrey had long since given up trying to break them apart, but she was obviously frustrated.

"I can't understand her!" she said.

"She said it was the grindylows; they attacked her." I supplied. "The rest is just her trying to comfort her sister." Madam Pomfrey began healing Fleur and then Harry, hovering over all of us, obviously disapproving of the situation as a whole. The trio and I were huddled together, Ron somehow being forced into a blanket and Pepper-Up Potion as well.

"Oh Harry, you did it!" Hermione exclaimed. "You saved me!"

Harry smiled tiredly. "Honestly, I was expecting to save Gia, but she somewhat told me to rescue you, so I figured that you must've been my hostage." His smile faded. "I can't believe the old man made you Viktor's hostage? What the hell was he playing out? He knows he'll be fueling those idiotic rumors about our Viktor-Harry-Gia bloody love triangle!"

"Harry, I wasn't thrilled about being a hostage, period. Love, just let it go for now." I said.

"Mate, you were way outside of the time limit though, did it take you ages to find them?" Ron asked.

"No ... I found them okay, but I had gone back to help Fleur being attacked the first time. I guess when I left her, she was attacked again. I wonder why…" he muttered.

"Veela are fire and air creatures," I murmured, "Fleur had the disadvantage from the start."

I leaned my head on his shoulder, and we watched as Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish, which I found to be very cool.

In that moment, Fleur approached us, finally having handed her sister over to Madam Pomfrey. "You saved her!" she gushed, dropping to her knees in front of me, and pulling me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, careful not to hurt her many cuts and gashes. "You saved her, even though you are not a champion, and she was not your hostage, you still saved her! Thank you!"

I gently patted her back. "There, there Fleur," I said awkwardly, "it's fine, Gabrielle will be fine. You need to go get healed, though."

But just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside us, making us all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows... "Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; we saw Ceria give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points. Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage, though she returned to the lake of her own accord." This caused slight chuckled throughout the crowd. "We award him forty points." Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks, but I smiled. "Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

We were all caught by surprise, and stared at Harry, who was open-mouthed astonished. Finally, we three started clapping loudly and cheering along with the crowd. "There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all—you were showing moral fiber!"

I laughed loudly, and pulled Harry into a resounding kiss. Fleur was clapping very hard too, and Viktor didn't look as happy, but he clapped as well. "The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

"Ew Gia, you have a beetle in your hair." Hermione said. She quickly picked it out and tossed it to the ground. I contemplated squishing it, but I was too elated to bother.

It was finally over and we had survived.

As we entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned our hands and faces every time we went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. It also brought around Ron's birthday, which was celebrated in East Tower with a small party consisting of Harry, Hermione, Luna, Terry, Ginny, Neville, the twins, and myself. We all got him presents, and we brought up tons of treats and snacks for everyone from the kitchens. I had also, along with Hermione's help, personally baked a _huge_ birthday cake for Ron, who was obviously a bit emotional when it had been brought out. But he'd told me himself that it had been a wonderful birthday, and I was happy for him.

The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again. Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one.

_Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon._

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught..."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

I took Harry's hand. "He'll be fine, Harry." I said calmly.

As we descended into the dungeons for Potions that day, I could see that despite his earlier words, he was rather cheerful about seeing Sirius. When we arrived outside the Potions classroom, we saw all of the Slytherins already there. Malfoy was standing with Nott, Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle, eyeing the girls oddly, looking strangely apprehensive.

"Millicent, what have you done!?" We heard Pansy snap. "When Grey finds out—"

"When Grey finds out what, exactly?" I asked, strolling forward. The group of girls surrounding Pansy looked up, as did the group of boys, and Pansy looked nervous. I saw that she was clutching a copy of Witch Weekly rather tightly in her hand.

"Listen Grey, we didn't have anything to do with this." She said quickly, holding out the magazine.

I took it, but at that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned us all inside. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and I headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, I quickly rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the center pages, I found what we were looking for. Harry and Ron leaned in closer. A color photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:

_**Harry Potter's Secret Heartache**_

_A boy like no other, perhaps—yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Pureblood witch Gia Aria Grey. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._

_Miss Grey, a stunningly beautiful and obviously ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Grey has been toying with both boys' affections. Viktor Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Grey, he has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays and insists that he has 'never felt this way about any other girl.'_

_However, it might not be Miss Grey's obvious natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._

_"She's really horrid," says Millicent Bulstrode, an somewhat interesting fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it." Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate. One might suggest his other female best friend, Muggleborn witch Hermione Granger, a rather plain and dull girl, however, I, along with my readers, believe that Harry Potter can do better than that. Miss Granger would be lucky to end up with a respectable enough husband someday in the far future._

"What!?" I snarled, standing up suddenly.

The classroom fell completely silent, both Houses and Snape were staring at me, though his surprise was nicely hidden. "Is there a problem, Miss Grey?" he drawled.

Shaking angrily, I shook my head and sat down on my stool. I was clutching the magazine in an angry fist when it suddenly burst into flames. Startled, I dropped it and watched it burn itself to ashes and die out. But I was too filled with rage to care of ponder about the spontaneous combustion. That cow was going to pay!

"I told you!" Ron hissed at me as I stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of –of scarlet woman!"

I paused suddenly and then snorted. "Scarlet woman?" I repeated, now shaking with hardly suppressed giggles.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red. "And she's made Hermione out to be some desperate, ugly girl, which she's not!" Ron added hastily at Hermione's expression.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," I said, still giggling as I vanished the ash remains of the magazine. "That was complete and utter rubbish."

I looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching Harry and I, probably to see how upset we were about the article. Millicent looked particularly interested, while the rest of them simply looked apprehensive. I remembered Pansy's words about the rest of them not having anything to do with it, and I gave an evil smile to Millicent specifically, causing her to pale dramatically and stare dutifully down at her cauldron.

The trio and I started unpacking the ingredients we would need for our Wit-Sharpening Potion. "There's something that doesn't add up though," I said ten minutes later, preparing to crush a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Skeeter could have known..?"

"Known what?" Harry asked evenly. I looked at him, suddenly realizing that though the article had only bothered me for a second, Harry was a bit different.

"You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?" Ron asked.

I glared at him and paused in my actions. "Of course not, you don't really think I would give Harry a Love Potion, do you?" Ron raised his hands in surrender, still holding his pestle.

"No, I was just joking." He said.

"I know," I sighed, "it's just…how did she know Viktor invited me to visit him over the summer?"

"He did what?" Harry asked, his voice slightly harder than before.

"He asked me right after I was translating between Madam Pomfrey and Fleur. But he'd whispered so the judges and the others couldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't too busy over the summer, would I like to visit him in Bulgaria." I said calmly.

Harry stared at me. "And what did you say?"

"He did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else, but he knows that he doesn't have a chance, what with us being together–" I continued.

"But what did you say?" Harry repeated, his tone turning cold. I glared at him.

"Oh Harry, calm down! I _said_ that I would talk to you about it first, since he knows that we're together!" I snapped, though not loud enough to carry. We continued our potion in furious silence, and I knew Hermione and Ron were feeling rather awkward at that moment. Harry was being an idiot, he had no reason to be mad, so I wasn't going to apologize. No freaking way…

There was a knock on the dungeon door. "Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.

The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.

"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist. I kept my eyes on my ginger roots, listening hard.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him. "I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if I'd poured out enough armadillo bile, I sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry. Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class. At the end, I sent the trio on ahead with the excuse of having spilled the armadillo bile, and needing to clean it up, which gave me a reason to duck down behind my cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.

"What's so urgent?" I heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff.

"This," said Karkaroff, and I, peering around the edge of my cauldron, saw Karkaroff pull up the left-hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on his inner forearm. "Well?" said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since—"

"Put it away!" snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping the classroom.

"But you must have noticed—" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Grey! What are you doing?"

"Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," I said calmly, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag I was holding. Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. I left extremely quick after that, and caught up with the trio a little ways down the corridor, telling them what I'd heard.


	28. Pooling Information with Snuffles

_**A/N: There are exactly ten more chapters to this fic. Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_"But you must have noticed—" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice._

_"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Grey! What are you doing?"_

_"Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," I said calmly, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag I was holding. Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. I left extremely quick after that, and caught up with the trio a little ways down the corridor, telling them what I'd heard._

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

We left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time we arrived in Hogsmeade, all four of us had taken off our cloaks and thrown them over our shoulders. As usual, we went on our usual over-extreme raid of Honeydukes, making sure to get extras of everything for Sirius. Then, we stopped in the Three Broomsticks to pick up five bottles of butterbeer. We went through various stores, and even had fun picking out the most lurid socks we could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly.

Then, at half past one, we made our way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village. The winding lane was leading us out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; we were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then we turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for us, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar...

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when we had reached him. The black dog sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from us across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain.

The trio and I climbed over the stile and followed. Sirius led us to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, and me, with my overall wolf balance, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. Because of that, I decided to add uneven and high terrain to their training.

We followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour we climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun. Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when we reached the place where he had vanished, we saw a narrow fissure in the rock. We squeezed into it and found ourselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half gray horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of us. This was my first time meeting the infamous hippogriff. All four of us bowed low to him, and after regarding us imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck.

Harry, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into his godfather. Sirius was wearing black slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top few buttons undone, along with simple black shoes. His hair was still neatly cut short, and he looked rather healthy.

He beamed at us happily, and opened his arms. Harry immediately hurried over to the man and embraced him in a tight, loving hug. I smiled at seeing how much lighter Harry already looked at just the sight of his godfather. "Hey kiddo," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's already hopeless situation of hair.

Harry yelped indignantly, and swatted Sirius's hands but didn't remove himself from Sirius's arms. "Hey Sirius," he replied softly.

"Looking good, Sirius." I commented, still smiling. Sirius grinned at me.

"Ah, the beautiful and deceivingly evil love potion brewer Gia Grey," he drawled grandly. I huffed and blew a strand of hair out of my face.

"You read that bullshit?" I asked as Sirius pulled me into a hug with him and Harry. He did the same to Hermione and Ron, and then we all sat down on the cave floor.

"Everyone read that bullshit, that's not the important thing. What's important is that no one believes it." Sirius said sagely. I raised an eyebrow.

"And you don't believe it, do you?" I clarified. He snorted.

"Of course not. One would only have to spend a few minutes around you two to see that you're both naturally smitten with each other." He said. Harry and I shared amused looks.

"Smitten?" Harry laughed. Sirius gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Remus is getting to me…" he groaned.

Hermione and Ron laughed, while I smirked. "So, that's where you've been? You've been living with Remus. Are you two at the property I lent to you?" I asked.

"Yes, and he's been taking good care of me." Sirius said, his eyes losing focus. When he looked at me, I grinned evilly and waggled my eyebrows suggestively, causing the older man to blush.

"I bet he has," I said mysteriously.

"Anyway," Sirius said loudly, causing the trio to stare at him funny. I giggled, and Sirius reddened more. I tossed him a large heavy bag with the Honeydukes logo on it.

"We bought you loads of candy." I explained. Sirius's face lit up and he began pawing through the bag, occasionally picking out pieces to munch on.

"So what _are_ you doing here, Sirius?" Harry asked as Sirius viciously bit off the head of a squirming Chocolate Frog. I leaned back into Harry's arms and opened a box of Bertie Bott's.

"Fulfilling my duties as a godfather," Sirius said simply, eating the rest of the now limp frog. I popped a milky white bean in my mouth and bit down, aware of the others watching me.

"Coconut," I grinned. Harry rolled his eyes lightly.

"You always get the good flavors." He grumbled. I held up a bright red one to his lips.

"Care to risk it, Potter?" I challenged. He raised an eyebrow at me, and sighed dramatically before eating the bean from my fingers. He began chewing and his face immediately became very red, and he began choking. Alarmed, I sat forward and patted his back a bit harder than I should have.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Red…chili…pepper…" Harry gasped out, sticking out his tongue to cool it. Giggling suddenly, I reached into the bag from the Three Broomsticks and pulled out one of the bottles of butterbeer. Opening it, I handed it Harry who drained it in two gulps. He stopped choking and though he was panting, his face began to go back to normal.

Sirius was clutching his sides laughing, Hermione was giggling through tears, and Ron was chuckling deeply. Harry glared at us, and playfully shoved my shoulder. "Gee, thanks love, for trying to kill me." He muttered. I pecked him on the cheek.

"Now why would I try to kill you after I went through the trouble of putting you under a love potion?" I said jokingly. Harry snorted and kissed my forehead. I passed out the remaining bottles of butterbeer to Ron, Hermione, and Sirius, and I graciously shared mine with Harry.

"As for your question," Sirius began…seriously, "I want to be here, on the spot. Well, let's just say things are getting fishier. Remus has been getting the Prophet for me every day, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius. "What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

Sirius shook his head. "I haven't been leaving Gia's house, Harry, and it's well warded and hidden anyway. But while I'm around here, I'll be in my dog form. Only Dumbledore and you four are the only ones around here that know I'm an Animagus."

Ron nudged me and passed me the Daily Prophets. There were two: The first bore the headline _**Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch**_, the second, _**Ministry Witch Still Missing- Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved**_. As I scanned the story about Crouch, with Harry reading over my shoulder, phrases jumped out at me: _hasn't been seen in public since November... House appears deserted... St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment... Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness... _

"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here..."

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you, he did look ill last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly, still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet..."

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now—bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione, let it go. Winky's happy now, and would you want her to go back to being mistreated by Crouch?" I said. Hermione huffed but shook her head.

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look.

Sirius, however, looked interested. "Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. Having been at the World Cup but had gone home as soon as the trouble started, it was interesting to hear the full story of what I had missed.

When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave. "Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a licorice wand. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

"Erm..." Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars." He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers... Cornelius Fudge ... The Malfoys ..."

"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Ron, everything wrong with the world is not the fault of the Malfoy's." I said calmly. "Probably most things, but not everything."

"Anyone else?" said Sirius.

"No one," said Harry.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"

I grimaced. "He's a bit creepy… always overly happy to see me." Harry gave me a protective look.

"He's somewhat okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that…"

"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry.

"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius. "Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."

"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"

"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.

"Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house—"

"Both of you shut it!" I hissed suddenly. "This is more important than house-elves and obsessions!" The two fell silent.

"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?" Sirius asked.

"Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf... And then he sacked her?"

"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled—"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron. I felt a vein in my left eye jump.

Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." He ran a hand over his smooth face, evidently thinking hard.

"All these absences of Barty Crouch's ... He goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too... It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry. Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had in his Wanted posters.

"Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban—without a trial."

"What?" said Ron and Hermione together.

"You're kidding!" said Harry.

"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of the wand. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads, but I nodded.

"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical—and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Harry's face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side... Well, you wouldn't understand... You're too young... "

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice.

"Right," I agreed, "All of you adults think we're too young to understand anything, but we've been through it too, just try us, why don't you?"

A grin flashed across Sirius's face. "All right, I'll try you..." He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing... The Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere... Panic... Confusion... That's how it used to be."

The trio and I were quiet, listening intently to Sirius talk.

"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning—I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemorts supporters. The Aurors were given new powers—powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you—plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened..." Sirius smiled grimly.

"Crouch Jr." I supplied. Sirius raised an eyebrow at me.

"How'd you know that?" he asked.

"I make it my business to know things." I said simply, shrugging.

Sirius looked at me funny, but nodded. "You're right though. Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione.

"Yep," said Sirius, "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in awhile...Gotten to know his own son."

"Was his son a Death Eater?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters—but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.

Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark. "Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again—doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy... Then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

"He gave his own son to the dementors?" asked Harry quietly.

"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though... They all went quiet in the end... Except when they shrieked in their sleep..."

For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.

"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said.

"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."

"He died?"

"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic... Next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

There was a long silence.

I had come from a wonderfully loving and caring family, so I didn't personally know what it was like to live with people like Crouch or the Dursleys. My dad was a business man, a damned good one, but he made sure to come home in time for dinner every night, he tucked me in, kissed my forehead, he took us on family trips and vacations. He was a good father and he absolutely adored my mum, and was obviously nothing like Crouch. Blood only went so far in the world apparently.

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius, nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.

"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape—"

"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledores brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him—"

"Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"

"Listen you two," I said darkly, "I have had it up to here with your bickering. Ron, will you _please_ give it a rest with Snape. We know he's a bloody git, but that doesn't mean he's completely evil. And Hermione, sweetheart, you're smarter than that. You three should know better than anyone that you can't blindly trust adult and authority figures, not even Dumbledore."

Hermione actually gasped. "B-But, he's Dumbledore!"

"That doesn't make him infallible." I countered. "The man isn't perfect. The sooner that everyone stops believing so, I think things will change. If Dumbledore told you to AK yourself, and said that in doing so, you would be saving the world, would you do it?"

Hermione hesitated. "Well, no…"

"Alright then. Yes, Dumbledore trusts Snape, but he hasn't exactly given you lot a solid reason as to why. I think respect and healthy caution will do just find here." I said.

They were all staring at me. "She's actually right," Sirius said. "Dumbledore isn't perfect, he does make mistakes, and I'm actually living proof of that. But that's a conversation for another time. She's also right about Snape. Dumbledore always tells us to trust Snape because he does, and we trust that he has his reasons, but I don't trust Snape himself. Healthy caution would indeed be ideal in this situation."

"Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."

Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names. "Rosier and Wilkes—they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges—they're a married couple—they're in Azkaban. Avery—from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse—he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater—not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.

"Yeah, Snape looked livid when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday." I said, thinking. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape. He'd said that Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape his left forearm, and though I couldn't see it clearly, I'll bet my Firebolt XT that it was the Dark Mark."

Sirius looked bewildered and worried. "Why would Karkaroff keep showing Snape his Dark Mark?" he asked. I shrugged.

"The only thing that makes sense is that Snape would understand, meaning…"

"That Snape has the Dark Mark, too?" Hermione finished.

Sirius stared at the cave wall, and then made a grimace of frustration. "There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."

"But Hagrid said it himself, back when we'd convinced him to come to work again." I said suddenly. "He said that Dumbledore was famous for giving people second chances, even when no one else would. Who's to say that he didn't decided that Snape was worth a second chance?"

Sirius stared at me, rubbing his chin. "I'm afraid to say that you're right, but you are. Dumbledore is too free with second chances, though of course in the cases of Hagrid and Remus, they needed and deserved them."

"Exactly, in our opinion, those two deserved second chances, and so Dumbledore must know something we don't, something that brings Snape into a better light." I said.

"But why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snapes office then?" said Ron stubbornly.

"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though... He's a different matter ... Is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not... What's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"

Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for food he might have overlooked. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron. "You say your brother s Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch. "

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all—quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic... Maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long..."

Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his eyes. "What's the time?"

"It's half past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen..." He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you. I'll mostly be at Gia's place with Remus anyway, but I'll camp out here every once in a while to be closer."

"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him.

"I don't care... I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"

"I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can find another paper."

He transformed into the great black dog before we left the cave, and we walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of us to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village.

The trio and I made our way back into Hogsmeade and up towards Hogwarts, talking softly along the way.

"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as we walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care... It'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severely.

"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career... Percy's really ambitious, you know..."

We walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, and were immediately hit with the delicious smells of dinner, wafting in from the Great Hall. "Percy's a bit of a prat, and yes, he's ambition, but he's also a Weasley. That has to count for something." Harry said. Ron clapped Harry's shoulder, and we went in for dinner.


	29. The Battle of the Pitch

_**A/N: I'd like to start by apologizing for the lapse in posting chapters. All I'll say on the subject is that I had a good reason, and it's over for now. Anyways, to make up for it, I'll be posting quite a few chapters tonight. And though I haven't been posting chapters, I've still been continuing the sequel, and I'm well into the eleventh chapter of it.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as we walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care... It'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."_

_"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severely. _

_"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career... Percy's really ambitious, you know..."_

_We walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, and were immediately hit with the delicious smells of dinner, wafting in from the Great Hall. "Percy's a bit of a prat, and yes, he's ambition, but he's also a Weasley. That has to count for something." Harry said. Ron clapped Harry's shoulder and we went in for dinner._

_**Chapter Twenty-Nine**_

"_Mummy! Mummy!" a little girl's voice called._

_I looked up from my work desk, having been sketching out some design, and stared at the open doorway where I knew the owner of the voice would come zipping in, as she usually did when something was wrong. And sure enough, a few seconds later, a blur of red and cream flew through the doorway and leapt clear over the desk, into my lap. Automatically wiping the girl's tears away, I kissed her smooth little cheek._

"_What's wrong, Aislin?" I asked the little girl._

_She stared up at me with those familiar, large emerald green eyes, her beautiful cream face framed by bright blood red curls. She truly was my twin, with her father's eyes, of course. She sniffed and buried her face in my shoulder, just as two more tiny pairs of footsteps came running down the hall, towards my study._

"_Mum! Mum!" two voices called._

_A second later, two identical little boys came running into the study, and paused at seeing their little sister already in my arms. I raised an eyebrow at them as I patted Aislin's pat comforting. "Sirius, Blaise, what have you two done to your sister now?" I asked, clearly exasperated._

_The twin five-year olds immediately launched into a long, loud tale of cheating and stealing of some sort, clearly trying to convey to me the severity of their four-year old sister's crimes, therefore saying that she was deserving of whatever they had done. The two boys, Sirius and Blaise, were almost carbon copies of their father: the same messy jet black hair, the same crooked, deceivingly innocent grin, the same features, except that these two had my bright amber eyes. _

_I hadn't understood one thing that the two were saying, and instead turned to the little girl in my lap. "Aislin, honey, what happened?"_

"_T-t-they," she sniffled, "they bit off the heads of my baby dolls!"_

_I shot a glare at the two sheepish boys._

"_She cheated in our race!" Sirius protested._

"_And she stole our kill!" Blaise added._

_Suddenly, Aislin was no longer crying and she snarled at them, her green eyes pulsing. "I did not, you had better stop lying!" she growled._

"_Or what?" Sirius taunted._

"_You're going to tell mum again?" Blaise said._

_Aislin leapt out of my lap, over the desk, and towards the boys. In midair, her small body smoothly transformed from the body of a four year old girl, to the sleek, lithe body of a arctic wolf cub. She stalked towards the two boys, who grinned in anticipation, and transformed quickly into identical, pure black wolf cubs. I groaned as the three began to circle each other. As soon as they pounced, I yelled, "Harry James Potter, you come control your little monsters right now!"_

_Within seconds, the man had rushed into the room, took in the scene of the three fighting cubs, the look on my face, and grinned sheepishly. We looked at the three for a moment, and I grinned. Though it was the twins against Aislin, she was smaller and more flexible than them both, and easily slipped out of their grasp. She was also faster than them, and used it to her advantage. I was quite proud of my little girl. _

"_What happened this time?" Harry asked, leaning against the doorframe._

"_Apparently, they were out hunting, somehow Aislin beat them in a race and took their kill, she says they're lying…I don't know." I said. The three were now snapping at each other, rolling around the expensive Spanish carpet._

_And so finally, I transformed into my fully grown arctic wolf form, and growled warningly. The three cubs immediately stopped, tails tucked between their legs, and lied down silently. Changing back, I glared mockingly at Harry. "Thanks for the help, wonder boy." I said sardonically._

_He swept me up in a twirling embrace and kissed me. "Anytime love, anytime…"_

My eyes snapped open and I sat up quickly, panting as if I had run a mile or two. Trying to control my breath, I pushed the mess of red hair from my sweaty face, and sighed. I looked down on my right at the calm, peaceful face of my sleeping boyfriend. What the hell _was_ that? Was that a dream or…or was that a vision? My mind was racing and my inner wolf was pacing back and forth, and for the first time, I felt an odd, distant sort of longing in my gut.

Shaking my head furiously, I gently rolled out of bed, strangely reluctant to wake up Harry at that point, and padded into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me. As I started the shower, I leaned my head against the cool frosted glass door. Was that really our future? "Kids..?" I whispered.

Harry and I had only been together, officially, for a few months, unofficially for about six, but still, that wasn't anywhere near enough time to be thinking about kids. I was only fifteen for Merlin's sake, and Harry was only fourteen! I stripped down out of my pajamas and stepped under the hot spray of water, dipping my hair under and letting it soak. Should I tell Harry about that? The answer came immediately.

No.

I couldn't tell Harry now, not when I wasn't even sure what to think about it; I needed a girl's opinion, and who better than my best friend? Decision made, I finished my shower, washing my hair, and stepped out, wrapping myself in the usual large, fluffy black towel. I exited the bathroom quietly, seeing that Harry was still asleep and headed into our closet. It was Sunday morning and I wasn't in the mood to get dressed up, so I pulled on black shorts, black boots, and dark purple v-neck t-shirt. I let my hair hang down messily, and didn't bother to put on any makeup or jewelry besides the ring Harry had given me, though I never took that off.

I found myself absently twisting said ring on my right ring finger as I entered the common room, and slipped into Hermione's room. She wasn't in her bed, though it had obviously been slept in, and I heard movement coming from her bathroom so I sat on the soft, chaise directly under the huge window in her room, and stretched out, trying to relax. I listened as the shower started, and almost fell back asleep when, forty minutes later, Hermione emerged in a deep blue towel.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the person in her room, and she must've seen the anxiety on my face, because she came and sat next to me, while in her towel. "What's wrong Gia?" she asked softly, towel drying her hair.

Taking a breath, I told Hermione all about the dream-vision that I'd had, and I made sure not to leave out anything. Her eyes were wide and sparkling throughout the telling, and when I was done, she looked amazed. "Wow," she breathed, "that's beautiful."

I raised an eyebrow. "Beautiful? I'm freaking out here, and you think it's beautiful?"

She shook her head. "Why are you freaking out? If it's a dream, it's cute, and if it's a vision, well, we know that it's not set in stone, and it's still cute. You have no reason to freak out."

I sighed and leaned back, staring up out the window. "But what if it is a vision?"

I felt Hermione staring at me. "And what if it is? Are you saying you wouldn't want to marry Harry, and have little wolf cubs with him?" I heard the amusement in her voice, and glanced at her. Sure enough, she had a smirking little grin on her face.

"Well…" I felt my face heat up, "I love Harry, I know that, and you know that, but we haven't even said _that_ to each other yet. I'm fifteen, I don't know what I want. What I want now could be completely different from what I want after we graduate. I mean, the idea of having a future with Harry does sound beautiful, but…"

"You just don't know." Hermione said. I nodded. "I understand, and I think it's rather normal to have dreams like that about the boy you… love." She stood up. "But if it does come true," she smirked, "don't ask me to babysit."

I laughed outright at that as Hermione disappeared into her own closet. I was still giggling slightly, smiling, when she emerged dressed in black sports shorts, white trainers, and a white v-neck. "Come here," I said, sitting up. She walked over and sat down on the floor in front of me, facing away.

I combed my fingers through her long, honey brown hair, and expertly braided it into a long French braid. We switched spots and she did the same for me. I leaned my head back against her legs. "What do you want to do today?" she asked, stroking my hair. It was a very relaxing action, and I was completely calm, a distinct contrast from earlier.

I grinned, suddenly gaining an idea, and a growing sense of excitement. Standing up, I said, "Wait right here, I'll be right back," before I quickly left her room and re-entered mine. Harry was still asleep, and I tiptoed past him to my side of the bed, and kneeled down in front of my trunk. I opened the deep, hidden compartment and pulled out two, bright yellow Maverick Nerf guns. I closed my trunk, picked up the two guns, and hurried back out to Hermione's room.

When I entered her room, she looked up, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the two toys in my hands. "Nerf guns? Where did you get those? _Why_ did you get those?" she asked.

I grinned and shrugged. "I thought we could try something fun and Muggle." I explained. I smirked and I just knew that my amber eyes were twinkling mischievously. "What do you say, we give the boys a wake-up call?" I said, holding out one of the toys to her. Gaining a sudden grin, Hermione took it and checked the clip.

"Aren't we suppose to load these with those little foam bullets?" she asked.

"They're charmed to never run out!" I said, clearly excited. We ran out into the common room. "I'll get Harry, and you get Ron. As soon as they're somewhat awake, we run back in here, alright?" I said. Hermione nodded, and we split up.

Returning to my room, I almost felt bad for what I was about to do. That, however, did not stop me from shooting my boyfriend repeatedly in the head. The first three rapidly shot out and stuck to his forehead in a neat line, the toy having been charmed with the suction bullets. As expected, Harry jumped up and shot off a stunner curse in my general direction. I dropped to the ground, and it hit the wall behind me, being absorbed into the stone.

"Wha-?" Harry yelped, standing on the bed. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand, and pointing around the room with his wand in the other, clad in only boxers and shorts.

"Morning love!" I chirped happily, standing up.

He glared at me, catching sight of the toy in my hand. "You shot me with a bloody muggle toy?" he asked, pulling the bullets off his head. As he tossed them onto the bed, they disappeared.

"Sure did, now get dressed and meet us in the common room." I said. He just stood there, staring at me, partially incredulous, partially confused, so I shot him, landing the bullet directly on his chin. "Well, get to it, wonder boy."

Entering the common room, I saw Ron already dressed and obviously disgruntled, with a highly amused and giggling Hermione sitting on the arm of his chair. They looked up as I walked in. "He was snoring…" Hermione laughed, "and…and, I shot at him….and it went… in his mouth!" she fell into giggles again.

I grinned at Ron, who glared at me. "You both are bloody mental! What'd she have to shoot me in my sleep for? And what is that thing you two are holding?"

I held it out to him. "They're muggle toys called Nerf guns. They shoot out little foam bullets with these suction things on the tip, so that they stick to things."

Ron took it and pointed it at the blank space of wall above the fireplace. He pulled the trigger, and a single bullet shot out, and stuck there. He looked amazed. "Where can I get one?"

I grinned. "I was actually –"

At that moment, a fully dressed Harry exited our bedroom and stumbled down towards me. He grabbed me in a tight hug and pulled me into a kiss. When we broke apart, I was dazed. He smirked at me. "Now why, love, would you want to shoot someone who kisses that well?"

Suddenly, there was a bullet sticking to the very center of his forehead. We turned and looked at Hermione, who was grinning evilly. "Don't try to seduce my partner, Potter."

"Partner?" he asked. I danced out of his arms, and took my toy back from Ron, before standing next to Hermione.

"Yes, partner. I decided that we needed some fun, and so we're going to play a little war game." I said, wiggling the toy. "With these."

"But we," Harry said, pointing to him and Ron, "don't have any."

I took my wand from its holster, which was strapped to my right thigh as usual, and tapped my Nerf gun. "_Geminio!_" I cast. Immediately, an identical Nerf gun appeared. I tossed it to Harry, and made another for Ron. "Now, you do."

Harry took an experimental shot, and hit me in the left breast. He smirked as I glared at him. "So darling," he drawled, "what are the rules?"

I tapped my chin. "Rules..? Hmm, alright, no magic, we can only use these toys. We can go anywhere in the castle, but do try not to hit anybody else. Oh, and I'm not at fault if I happen to hit you in the eye or something. In case you two didn't notice, it's girls against boys."

Harry and Ron looked at each other before grinning. "We're in." they said in unison.

"Good." I purred deviously. I smiled at Hermione, who nodded at me. "Now!" I yelled. In rapid succession, Hermione and I unleashed fire on the two boys, and then sprinted towards the portrait hole. We heard yelling behind us, and as the portrait swung open, several bullets flew over my head, and out into the corridor.

Giggling like mad, Hermione and I took off down the corridor. Looking over my shoulder, I giggled harder as I saw Harry and Ron running after us. As I ran, I ducked under a bullet, and shot over my shoulder. Harry side-stepped it, not slowing down. Hermione shot several times behind her, one hitting Ron in the shoulder, the others missing.

We got the main staircase, and I grinned at Hermione before sitting on the banister, and pushing off. As I rushed down, I looked back and saw Hermione reluctantly repeat the action. As we slid rapidly down flights of stairs, passing newly risen students, Harry and Ron were running down the steps, shooting at us, though we were going too fast for them to catch us. We hopped off on the second floor, and paused, laughing hysterically, holding our sides.

Hermione looked up behind us. We heard the boys yelling several flights up. "They'll never catch up if we leave now." She laughed.

"I say we ambush them." I said sneakily. We grinned at each other, and hid behind statues of armor on either side of the staircase. We waited several minutes before the boys came running down the staircase, breathing quickly. "Where'd they go?" Harry asked, looking around.

"We're right here!" I yelled. Hermione and I jumped out from our hiding spots and shot a dozen bullets at the stunned boys, before taking off down the corridor. It wasn't till I looked over my shoulder that I realized that Hermione and I had run in different directions.

"Shit!" I whispered, pausing. The castle was waking up and there were many people wandering the corridors at this point, so I couldn't try to hear one of the boys coming. I was getting many looks from the guys because of my shorts, and also many amused looks from the muggleborns and half-bloods that recognized the Nerf gun.

I was just walking down a semi-crowded corridor, when I froze. "Gia!" I turned my head, and there was Ron, running towards me, a maniac grin on his face.

"Bloody hell!" I took off running straight ahead, planning on turning the left corner. I ducked and dodged between the other students, who looked rather amused and bewildered, various students actually being hit by the bullets, though most of them moved to the edges of the corridor, leaving a clear path ahead and behind. As I was about halfway down the corridor, Harry appeared at the end, and shot three bullets at me. Thinking quickly, I cast a quick, waxing spell on the floor and dropped to my knees, sliding rapidly. I slid right under the three shots which, incidentally, hit Ron in the chest, and also slid right through Harry's legs. I rolled to my feet, spun around, shot Harry in the back, and took off around the corner.

I made it to the moving staircases again and took three at a time as I sprinted quickly, looking back every few seconds. On the fifth floor, I looked down and saw Ron two flights down. Giving a loud, dramatic battle cry, I leapt straight over the banister and fell quickly. Ron looked up and his mouth dropped open. He shot up in panic, and hit me in the stomach. As I fell, I somersaulted and got off two shots, one hitting Ron in the shoulder, the other in the hollow of his throat. I miraculously landed on my feet on the second floor, and ran down another flight.

Not bothering to look back, I ran full out, feeling exhilarated. "Oi!" I heard. Looking over my shoulder, I laughed as Ron gave chase. His long legs and physical training forced me to run faster than I normally would, but I refused to tap into my wolf speed yet, and I burst through the large double doors into the full Great Hall, laughing. The Hall fell silent as I ran towards the front, where the Head Table was, and spun around, stopping.

Ron ran in after me, and immediately began shooting rapidly. I ducked most of them, being hit one time, and shot back. Surprising Ron, Hermione slid to a stop behind him, and he was caught in the center, a dead zone. He was shot down horribly. "Harry!" he yelled.

Apparently hearing his partner's cry for help, Harry appeared beside Hermione, who shot him in the face and ran around the side of the Hall, between the far left wall and the Gryffindor Table. I met her over there, and grabbed Ginny's shoulder. "Ginny," I said, adrenaline and excitement coloring my voice. I took a breath, my heart was racing happily.

Ginny grinned at me, looking truly stunned, as did the entire Great Hall. The entire Hall was completely silently, either staring at Hermione and me, or Harry, who was helping his partner up off the floor. "What are you lot doing? And what are those things?" she asked, laughing at her brother.

"They're muggle toys called Nerf guns. We're having a war, and we need back up. We're officially drafting you to the girl's team." I said quickly, duplicating the toy and handing it to Ginny. "You just pull the trigger, and it shoots out those little foam bullets. Don't worry, they don't actually hurt, but they stick."

Ginny stood up, forgetting about her lunch, and immediately shot Ron in the back of the head as Harry pulled him up. He yelped and spun around. Upon seeing his little sister with a gun, he paled. "Wait! Pause! Time out!" he yelled.

I laughed. "What?"

"I didn't know we could call in backup!" he complained.

"Well _obviously_," Hermione drawled mockingly, "we can now."

Harry shot her a glare, and then smirked broadly. "Fine, Gred, Forge, you two are being drafted. Front and center," he called. I groaned as the twins stood up, completely rigid, and saluted my boyfriend, who duplicated his own toy and gave the twins each one.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it, Potter?" I called across the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, as the boys were in the very middle of the Hall.

He held up his arms challengingly. "Are you scared yet, Princess?"

There was an almost unanimous _ooh_ from the Hall, and I smiled darkly. "Princess? Alright Wonder Boy," I scanned the Gryffindor Table. "Angelina, Katie, Alicia, you three are in." I called. The three chasers grinned at each other, and I was pleased to see that the boys weren't as cocky now.

"Dean, Seamus, let's go." Ron ordered.

In the end, there were two teams of six. There was the Boy's Team, which consisted of Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Dean, and Seamus. And then there was my team, the Girls' Team, which consisted of me, Hermione, Ginny, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. After making sure everyone had a Nerf gun, we stared at each other.

"Two minute head start," I said, "both teams leave the Great Hall, when you hear the loud bang, the war has begun!" The Great Hall was still quite enraptured with the events that were unfolding in front of them, and I could see that all of the teachers except for Snape and Karkaroff looked highly amused, and most of the students looked interested.

"Alright, let's go team!" Harry called. The six boys ran from the Great Hall, and I grinned at the girls.

"Are you all ready to hunt down some idiots?" I said. Laughing, they agreed and we left as well. I heard the Hall break into loud, excited chatter as we left, and when two minutes past, I sent out a loud bang, that stunned the school into silence for a split second. There was immediate anarchy as the boys jumped out from various positions in the hall, and soon the corridor air was thick with the little flying bullets. We were all hit repeatedly, and then we ran in different directions.

Somehow, Ginny and I managed to stay together, fighting through Dean and Seamus, and I only hoped that Hermione wasn't alone. Ginny and I were wandering stealthily along the sixth floor when I heard hushed whispers. Holding a finger to my mouth, I pointed to the corner up ahead. Ginny nodded, and we crept down the corridor. Peeking my head around the corner, I grinned as I saw the twins huddled up, planning.

I mouthed _on three_ to Ginny, who nodded. Holding up fingers, I counted to three, and we jumped out and unleashed fire. The twins, caught unaware, were pushed back, and my partner and I took off running, grinning. The twins soon gave chase, and we headed back to the stairs. We raced down, and heard more than two pairs of footsteps behind us. Looking back, we saw all six boys chasing us. My eyes popped, and I grabbed Ginny, and we jumped down the last few steps onto the fourth floor. We were running down the corridor, when we collided with our other four team members, who looked perfectly fine.

Standing up, I grinned and pulled them into an empty classroom, closing the door behind us. "Are you all alright?" I asked. I got affirmative answers.

"When we first got separated, Alicia ended up alone, and Harry and Ron were about to attack her." Angelina reported. "Luckily, Hermione, Katie, and I found them, and sent those two running."

I listened at the door as I heard the boys running through the corridor, I waited until their footsteps receded before signaling that the coast was clear. For the next two hours, the two teams raced around the school, dodging other students, and many, many battles commenced. It was in the Battle of the Entrance Hall, as I thought of it, that we all noticed a change.

The other girls and I slid into the entrance hall, having been challenged to an all out battle there by the boys. When we arrived, my eyes zeroed in on their newest members. "You recruited Viktor and Cedric?" I yelled incredulous. The boys grinned at me.

"Well, you recruited Fleur." Ron pointed out. I looked over my shoulder at the French champion who grinned and flipped her hair.

"Viktor, Cedric, I cannot believe you two, turning against me like that." I said, mock-woefully. Cedric grinned largely at me, and shrugged.

"Sorry, little sis." He said, clearly unapologetic. Viktor was also grinning, highly amused.

"I vasn't given a choice." He said, shrugging as well.

"Alright, you know what? I have an idea." I announced, slowly walking down the stairs to where the boys stood, the girls following behind me.

"What idea?" Harry asked, suspicious.

"A game change," I said.

"A game change?" he repeated.

I nodded. "I challenge you lot to gather whatever soldiers you want, boys from any of the three schools, and meet us on the Quidditch Pitch. But," I said, "this time, there will be differences."

"Like what?" Ron asked.

I was making this up as I went along, but suddenly, a whole plan formed in my mind. "We'll be bringing in reinforcements as well," I said, "but the actual rules are different. Once on the pitch, we fight till one side is completely decimated. This time, if you're hit at least five times in any place on your body, you're clothes will turn completely red, to prevent cheating, and you have to go sit in the stands until the battle is over."

I saw that the boys and girls looked interested, so I continued. "I think the flyers here will like this," I grinned, "so brooms can be brought onto the pitch for aerial attacks, but no magic or other weapons." This caused many excited grins.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Harry said, "With me, Cedric, and Viktor on one team?"

I snorted. "Save it, wonder boy. I wouldn't get cocky yet. Anyway, If you're taken out, you leave you're weapon on the ground for someone else to use, you can use multiple weapons at one time, if you can handle that. And if you shoot someone on your own team, it does count. I'll also be sending out different models of these muggle toys, for variety."

Harry looked at his team, all of whom grinned and nodded. "Alright, we're in."

I grinned evilly. "Good, you have," I checked an imaginary watch, "forty minutes to gather yourselves and meet us on the pitch. The battle begins at exactly five o'clock."

After leaving the entrance, I sent Fleur to talk to her school and try to convince some of the other girls to join. I did the same with the three chasers, sending them to go talk to the other Lions and Badgers. I took Ginny and Hermione with me and we recruited a large number of Ravens, managing to coax them out of homework and studying. I told everyone to gather in the Great Hall until we had our full team.

I grabbed Ginny and Hermione. "We're going on a special recruiting mission," I said dramatically, "into enemy territory."

The two stared at me as we walked. "The Slytherins?" Hermione asked. Ginny gasped.

"Exactly, we need all of the fighters we can, and I doubt Harry or Ron will stoop to recruiting Malfoy and his friends, so we'll have an advantage. Besides, it wouldn't be right to exclude one House. Think of it as more observations for my party. If they can do this without screwing up, then they can probably handle being at a mixed party." I explained as we entered the dungeons.

Like before, when we reached the blank stretch of wall, I sent a mild bludgeoning charm at it, to get somebody's attention. This time, Pansy herself answered the entrance. She raised her eyebrow at us. "How can I help you, Grey?" she asked, somewhat less suspicious than usual.

"I take it you lot saw what we've been doing all day, our little war?" I asked. Pansy nodded. "You lot interested in joining us for the Final Battle?"

"The Final Battle?" she asked. I grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, we're having one last, all out battle on the pitch against the boy. We're recruiting girls from all four houses, and all three schools. I figured you all would at least consider it?" I said.

"I'll have to ask the others," Pansy said slowly.

"I suppose that's as good as I'll get. Well, if you girls are interested, meet us in the Great Hall in the next…twenty minutes." I shrugged. I gestured to Ginny and Hermione, and we left. When we arrived in the Great Hall, I was stunned at how full it was of girls of many different ages. I walked to the front, my two girls following me, and stood up in front of the Head Table, which was currently empty of Professors.

There were at least a hundred girls, most likely more than that, and I had to wonder how many boys Harry managed to get. I cast a spell to detect any boys and rolled my eyes. "Dennis, get out of here!" I called.

Collin's little brother, face incredibly red, squeaked and ran from the Great Hall. "I can't believe Harry would send in a spy." I muttered, shaking my hand. "Alright," I called loudly. The girls, who had been chatting excitedly, fell silent and looked at me, gathered at the ends of the four tables, closest to me. "We're here to prepare for the Final Battle, or the Battle of—" I paused as the doors to the Great Hall opened, and in walked a large group of girls, looking more than a bit uncomfortable. It was the Slytherins.

"Ah, Pansy, I see you convinced you're House mates to join us?" I called, as the girl led her house to their usual table on the far right.

"Yeah," she called. "But I thought I should warn you. Draco told me that if we, the girls, joined you, he would gather the boys to join Potter."

I laughed. "I'd love to see them all work together." I muttered. Looking at the entire hall, I started again. "Like I was saying, we're here to prepare for the Final Battle, or the Battle of the Pitch." Suddenly, the girls went up in a loud cheer, and I grinned at Hermione and Ginny, who were standing beside me. "I'm glad to see that enthusiasm. Where are my flyers and Quidditch Players?" I asked.

About half of the girls there raised their hands. "All fliers to the Ravenclaw Table, the girl quickest on their feet to the Hufflepuff Table, the most lithe and good with reflexes to the Slytherin Table, and if you feel as though you don't fit in any of those categories, sit at the Gryffindor Table."

When the girls had separated, they were about evenly spread out. I turned to the Ravenclaw Table. "How many of you have your own brooms?" I asked. About half of them raised their hands. "Good, go get them. The rest of you can use school brooms." As those that had brooms left, I set Hermione and Ginny, my Generals, to duplicating the Nerf guns, giving each girl one, and handing them a backup to put in their robes. When the fliers returned with their brooms, we armed them as well.

I personally handed Pansy and her friends guns, and demonstrated how to use them. After that, I went back to the front of the Hall, and explained the same rules I had to the boys. I cast a _Tempus_ charm, it was four-fifty. "Alright, time to head out!" With a great battle cheer, the girls all streamed out of the Great Hall, with Hermione, Ginny and I at the front. We went through the now empty entrance hall, and out onto the grounds. When we walked onto the Pitch, we were surprised to find hundreds of boys waiting for us, all armed.

I told the girls to stop on one side, opposite the boys, while I walked forward and met Harry directly in the middle. I grinned evilly at him. "This is your last chance to back down, love." I said.

Harry snorted. "I should be saying that to you." He countered. I shrugged.

"Suit yourself, wonder boy." Reaching up on my tiptoes, I captured Harry in a kiss so deep, that when I pulled back, his knees almost buckled. Laughing, I walked back to my side. I conjured up dozens and dozens of other models of Nerf guns, banishing them all over the pitch to be picked up by whomever. I saw that many of the boys, including Harry, Ron, Cedric, and Viktor, were holding brooms. Harry had his Firebolt XT, while Ron had his Firebolt., the same as with Ginny and me.

Those involved in the game seemed to be almost every student, boy and girl, from years four through seven, with half of the third years involved as well. Those who hadn't wanted to play were watching from the stands. To my surprise, all of the Professors, and even Dumbledore sat in the Teacher's Box, and watched on. I grinned at the girls. "It seems we have incentive to win."

I turned to the boys. "When I make the loud blast, the Battle begins." I called. I waited until precisely five o'clock, and sent out a loud BANG from my wand. There was an immediate uproar of screaming, battle cries, and cheering. Dozens and dozens of students from both sides rose up on brooms, myself included.

Throughout the battle, I swooped through the air and low over the battle, shooting various people. Within half an hour, the stands had filled up with red people from both sides, but the battle was still going strong. Those on the ground were running, ducking, dodging, diving, and doing all sorts of amazing things in order to not be shot. I even saw several aerial fighters swoop down and scoop up an ally. People were very creative during that battle.

In the midst of the chaos, I saw Luna fall, being approached by the twins. They swooped down and shot at her, and to my utter shock, Terry jumped in front of the shots, taking his last two, and turning bright red. The twins were stunned and flew away, while Luna rewarded Terry with a huge kiss, only to be shot in the back three times by Ernie Macmillan. Terry and Luna walked off to the stands together, seemingly uncaring.

I had already taken a bullet for Hermione, saving her from Ron when she wasn't paying attention. And then I had shot him, taking him out of the game. The war wore on for hours, and it was hard fought, but the two teams were cut down quickly, until around eight, when there were only four people left on the pitch. Me, Harry…and Pansy and Malfoy.

We had all abandoned our brooms, and stood in a tense, spread out square, each pointing a Nerf gun at someone. Harry had his pointed at Pansy, Pansy had hers pointed at Malfoy, Malfoy has his pointed at me, and I had one in each hand, pointed at both Harry and Malfoy.

The stands were completely full and the ear splitting cheers had died down. Everyone was watching us tensely, as we decided which gender got bragging rights for…possibly the remainder of the school year. All four of us were sweaty and ruffled, and we were all incredibly dirty from rolling around the ground, and diving to avoid being shot, but we were all sporting large smirks.

"It seems we've reached a stalemate." Malfoy spoke up, after the tense silence. I grinned.

"It seems so." I said.

"So, how do we settle this?" Harry said.

Pansy and I made eye contact, and had an entire conversation. Harry had three strikes, while the rest of us had four. One shot and any of us were out, but if Harry was shot twice, he'd be out as well. I saw the corner of Pansy's lip twitch, and I nodded very, very slightly. In a split second, she had shot Malfoy. The sudden movement startled Harry, who automatically shot Pansy. Malfoy shot at me at the same time that Pansy shot at him, and as he was hit, I ducked, causing the bullet to hit Harry. And finally, I shot Harry, hitting him in the forehead.

We had won.

Pansy squealed victoriously and we hugged, jumping around as the stands erupted in cheers so thunderously loud, I was sure the muggles out in London could hear. The students streamed out onto the pitch as if their House had just won the House Cup, and Pansy and I were lifted up onto the shoulders of a few tall, strong girls. We accepted the cheers, which lasted as we were carried into the school, and into the Great Hall for dinner.

The Battle was the talk of the school throughout the meal, and all of the girls took liberal use of their bragging rights. It had been epic, and would undoubtedly start some wild tradition. I already had ideas for how to split up teams next time… Before going to East Tower that night, we stopped by the Owlery and used Hedwig to send a letter to Percy, as Sirius had suggested. That night, Harry rewarded me greatly for my win.


	30. Barty Crouch

_Previous Chapter:_

_Pansy and I made eye contact, and had an entire conversation. Harry had three strikes, while the rest of us had four. One shot and any of us were out, but if Harry was shot twice, he'd be out as well. I saw the corner of Pansy's lip twitch, and I nodded very, very slightly. In a split second, she had shot Malfoy. The sudden movement had startled Harry, causing him to automatically shoot Pansy. Malfoy shot at me at the same time that Pansy shot at him, and as he was hit, I ducked, causing the bullet to hit Harry. And finally, I shot Harry, hitting him in the forehead. We had won._

_Pansy squealed victoriously and we hugged, jumping around as the stands erupted in cheers so thunderously loud, I was sure the muggles out in London could hear. The students streamed out onto the pitch as if their House had just won the House Cup, and Pansy and I were lifted up onto the shoulders of a few tall, strong girls. We accepted the cheers, which lasted as we were carried into the school and into the Great Hall for dinner._

_The Battle was the talk of the school throughout the meal, and all of the girls took liberal use of their bragging rights. It had been epic, and would undoubtedly start some wild tradition. I already had ideas for how to split up teams next time… Before going to East Tower that night, we stopped by the Owlery and used Hedwig to send a letter to Percy, as Sirius had suggested. That night, Harry rewarded me greatly for my win._

_**Chapter Thirty**_

Monday morning, the trio and I headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Along the way, we got a lot of triumphant cheers and calls from the girls, with many people asking when the next battle was. I basked in the excited atmosphere as we sat down in our usual spots at the Gryffindor Table. "Morning Lions." Harry and I called, smiling.

"Morning!" the Gryffindors called, louder and more enthusiastic than usual. The high spirits continued throughout breakfast until the owl post arrived and a small swarm of owls dropped envelopes all over my now empty plate.

"I thought Harry was the only one that got fan mail." Ron joked. Harry snorted and shoved his shoulder, but I didn't find anything funny as I went through several of the envelopes. My nose twitched and I dropped the next envelope before I opened it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted, standing up. The Hall fell quiet.

"Miss Grey, there is no need to use such foul language in the presence of younger students!" Professor McGonagall said, rather thin lipped.

"Some idiot witches read about those ridiculous articles in Witch Weekly, they sent me hate mail!" I yelled. There were many gasps throughout the Hall, and I felt my eye twitch as the whispers began.

"That's not any reason to use profanity." McGonagall stated.

"It is when someone sends undiluted bubotuber pus!" I snapped. As the bell rang, I grabbed my bag and stormed from the Great Hall, vaguely aware of Hermione, Ron, and Harry hurrying to catch up.

My foul mood continued through Herbology, and I completed the given assignment in stony silence, trying my hardest not to smash a few plant pots. As the trio and I left the greenhouses and began making our way to Care of Magical Creatures class, we passed the Slytherins. Catching sight of me, Millicent Bulstrode sneered.

"Too bad that bubotuber pus didn't get you, aye Grey?" she taunted. I snarled and dropped my bag. Just as I was leaping at her, Harry and Ron caught me around my waist and wrestled me back.

"You know what Bulstrode? If you have a problem with me, you can bring your fat ass out here sometime and we can duel it out!" I snarled, struggling to break free. That bint had been a thorn in my side for too long.

Suddenly not as brave, Bulstrode pulled up a pathetic bravado. "Oh really?" But as she said that, she walked away towards Hagrid's hut. The boys let me go once Bulstrode was out of my reach, and I stood fuming, glaring at the girl's bag. I swore I smelled smoke a split second before Bulstrode's bag burst into flames. The other Slytherins yelled in surprise, and noticing why, Bulstrode began screaming, trying to pull the flaming bag off of her back. I grinned darkly, and set off happily toward Hagrid's hut, the trio trailing on either sides of me.

"You did that didn't you?" Hermione asked quietly. I shrugged, still grinning.

"I might have." I said vaguely. Ron clapped me on the back.

"That was bloody brilliant, and she definitely deserved it!" he said certainly. Harry was shaking his head, chuckling. Hermione huffed.

"Sure, she was being a bit of a…"

"Bitch?" I offered.

"Yeah, sure, but that's no reason to go setting her on fire!" Hermione insisted. I snorted.

"I set her bag on fire, not her." I clarified.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and bit her bottom lip. "How'd you do that, anyway? You're a bit old for accidental magic." I shrugged.

"I truly have no idea. My magic has been a bit out of whack since my sixteenth birthday." I said, remembering breathing underwater during the Second Task and burning that horrid magazine in Potions class.

Hagrid, who had told us last lesson that we had finished with unicorns, was waiting for us outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. I resisted the urge to groan. "Not more bloody skrewts." I muttered. The trio nodded. But when we got near enough to see inside, we found ourselves looking at a number of furry black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades and they were blinking up at us, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.

"These are nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff... There yeh go, look." One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.

"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an get ready ter set 'em loose."

Harry took off his watch, which he was only wearing out of habit, as it didn't work anymore, and stuffed it into his pocket. I fingered the beautiful ruby ring that Harry had given me for Christmas, but I was reluctant to take it off. Harry ducked down and gave me a quick kiss. "It's fine love," he murmured, "just put it in your pocket and it'll be fine."

Still reluctant, I slipped the ring into my robes pocket, and charmed it not to fall out. Harry and I both picked up a little niffler, and I giggled as it stuck its long snout towards my ear, sniffling enthusiastically. It really was quite cute.

It was easily the most fun we had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.

"Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes.

"Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning. "They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot, now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed.

"It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours." Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but Harry, Ron, Hermione and I stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes. We noticed Madame Maxime watching us out other carriage window.

As we rounded up the nifflers, I told Hagrid about the hate mail I had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.

"Aaah, don't worry," said Hagrid gently, looking down at me. "I got some o' those letters an all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou me mum. Yeh're a monster an yeh should be put down.' 'Yer mother killed innocent people an if you had any decency you d jump in a lake.'"

"No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.

"Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall.

"That's terrible." I said softly.

"They're jus' nutters, Gia. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."

"They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?" Harry said as we headed back up towards the castle.

Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.

"What's the matter?" said Harry. "Wrong flavor?"

"No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"

"What gold?" said Harry.

"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"

Harry obviously had no idea what Ron was talking about, and appeared to be thinking rather hard.

"Oh..." he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno ... I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"

We climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch. "Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when we had sat down and started serving ourselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."

"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"

"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that broom for Christmas."

"Forget it, all right?" said Harry.

Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say. "But you're not poor anymore, remember?" I said, referring to Harry and my Christmas gift to the Weasleys. "And just because you have money now, that doesn't mean it's the most important thing. You still have the one, very important thing that Harry and I would give up anything for." I said quietly.

Ron peered at me. "And what's that?"

"A family." I said simply.

Throughout lunch, I caught the furtive glances and whispers that drifted through the Great Hall, and it grated on my nerves, because I _knew _what it was about. "I hate that lying cow!" I snapped suddenly. "I swear to Merlin himself that I'll get her back for this!"

Hate mail continued to arrive for me over the following week, and although I had followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of my ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at me for the whole Hall to hear. I'd taken to setting those on fire after about the second word, and I'd banished one envelope filled with bubotuber pus over to Bulstrode at the Slytherin Table.

Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about our supposed Harry-Krum-Gia triangle now. Harry told me that he was getting sick of telling people that I wasn't using a love potion on him, though of course, they didn't believe him.

"It'll die down, though," he told me, "if we just ignore it... People will get bored with that stuff she wrote about…"

"I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about our relationship Harry." I said seriously, turning to him. "Because you and I both know that what we have is real." He nodded firmly. "But I want to know how that bint could listen in on a private conversation when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!"

I hung back in our next Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and asked Professor Moody if he'd seen Rita Skeeter at the Second Task, hidden or not, and he'd responded in the negative. "Well, she's not using an Invisibility Cloak." I said, strolling out into the corridor where the trio had waited for me. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake!"

"Gia, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.

"No!" said Hermione stubbornly before I could answer. "I want to know how she heard Gia talking to Viktor! And how she found out about Hagrid's mum!"

"Why do you want to know?" Ron asked. Hermione huffed.

"Because that woman is horrid, she's ruining my friend's life, and she's ruining my reputation! I am not dull, plain, or desperate!" Hermione growled.

"Maybe she had you bugged," said Harry.

"Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What... Put fleas on her or something?"

Harry started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted them. "Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?"

"What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you." I flicked his ear.

"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use—electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things—they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be... If I could just find out what it is ... Ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her..."

"Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"

"I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it on my own!" She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. We were quite sure she was going to the library.

"What's the betting she comes back with a box of / Hate Rita Skeeter badges?" said Ron. Hermione, however, didn't ask any of us to help her, and we didn't offer. Though I was angry, with Hermione doing what she was, I had no need to pursue a campaign against Skeeter, I'd get her back eventually. In the days leading up to the Easter Holidays, the amount of work we received reached mountainous levels, and I kept the boys either in East Tower, or in the Room of Requirement, studying. I made sure they didn't slack off, and completed all of their work as soon as possible, and when we weren't doing homework, we were training. In those days, we also celebrated Luna's fourteenth birthday in a way similar to Ron's, with presents, and cake, and friends.

Harry had enclosed notes to Sirius, telling him that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and that we were still waiting for an answer from Percy. Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. All four of ours were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. In mine was a short note:

_Read that horrid article in Witch Weekly Gia, but don't worry, none of us believe you would do that to Harry. We could all see rather clearly over the winter hols that you both are quite smitten with each other. Enjoy the toffee _

_-Mrs. Weasley_

I smiled and read the note to the others. "What's up with everyone using the word _smitten?_" Harry and the other two chuckled.

"That was sweet though." I said softly. As we dug into our toffee, Harry read out Percy's rather irritated sounding letter.

_As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. _

_Happy Easter. _

The start of the summer term brought wonderful weather, that permitted Harry, Ron, me, and even Ginny, out to the Quidditch Pitch to fly around and practice for next year's season. When we weren't flying, I was forcing Harry to train harder than ever for the third and final task, though he still didn't know what he was going to be doing, and so I pushed him in every aspect.

Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held Harry back in Transfiguration, while Hermione, Ron, and I waited in the corridor. I, of course, overheard the short conversation. "You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock. Potter," she told him. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."

That night, at half past eight, I looked up from a family book I had had Prim bring me from the main family library. "Harry, can I go with you?" I asked. He looked at me with a small grin.

"Of course, come on, I don't want to be late." He said. I stood up, and we called a goodbye to Hermione, Ron, and Luna, and left East Tower.

As we crossed the entrance hall, holding hands and talking softly, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room. "Oh, hey Gia, Harry."

I smiled. "Hey Cedric." We said together.

"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Harry as we went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."

"That wouldn't be too bad," said Harry.

We walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field. "What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead. The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.

"They're hedges!" said Harry, bending to examine the nearest one.

"I don't reckon I'm supposed to be here." I said. Tapping my head with my wand, I cast a disillusionment charm over myself, shuddering at the feeling of egg running down my head and body. I watched my body slowly disappear, only my outline being visible when I moved. I grasped Harry's hand so that he knew where I was.

"Hello there!" called a cheery voice. Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Viktor and Fleur. Harry, Cedric, and I (secretly) made our way toward them, climbing over the hedges.

"Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as we climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happy expressions on Harry's and Cedric's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"

No one spoke for a moment. Then—

"Maze," said Viktor. "That's right!" said Bagman.

"A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."

"We simply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.

"There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures... Then there will be spells that must be broken ... All that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Harry and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter... Then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"

I, who knew only too well the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all, and not for the first time, I wished I could take Harry's place so that he wouldn't get hurt.

"Very well... If you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly…"

Bagman hurried alongside Harry as we began to wend their way out of the growing maze, while Harry and I walked hand-in-hand with me on his left, Bagman was on his right. I had the feeling that Bagman was going to start offering to help Harry again, but just then, Viktor tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"Could I haff a vord?"

"Yeah, all right, " said Harry, slightly surprised. I was as well.

"Vill you valk vith me?"

"Okay," said Harry curiously. Bagman looked slightly perturbed.

"I'll wait for you. Harry, shall I?"

"No, it's okay, Mr. Bagman," said Harry, suppressing a smile, "I think I can find the castle on my own, thanks."

Harry, Viktor, and I left the stadium together, though Viktor didn't know I was there either, and Viktor did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked toward the forest.

"What're we going this way for?" said Harry as we passed Hagrid's cabin and the illuminated Beauxbaton carriage.

"Don't vont to be overheard," said Viktor shortly. When at last we had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbaton horses' paddock, Viktor stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Harry. "I vant you to know," he said, "that nothing is going on between Gia and me."

Harry obviously hadn't been expected something like that, and his face, his wide eyes and slightly slack jaw, reflected that. I had to press my hand over my mouth not to giggle. "Err…wha-?" Harry said, confused.

"That article…" Viktor said. Harry's eyes widened in understanding, and he waved his hand.

"Oh, I know that that article was complete rubbish. Gia's a good person, and an amazing girlfriend." Harry said, obviously trying not to smile. I flicked the back of his head, where Viktor wouldn't see his hair move.

Viktor nodded. "My invitation for her to visit vos not given with ill intention either, but, I also vont you to know, that if you hurt her, I vill not be pleased." He warned seriously. Harry's smile faded, and he raised an eyebrow. "Gia is a very special girl, and she deserves to be treated in the very highest regard. You vill do so or I vill do it for you."

Harry patted Viktor's shoulder. "Don't worry Viktor," he said easily, though I saw the tension in his neck, "I'll never mistreat a girl as wonderful as Gia."

He stared at Harry for a few seconds, then said, "You fly very vell. I vos votching at the first task." I rolled my eyes. Boys…

"Thanks," said Harry, grinning broadly and suddenly relaxing. "I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. The Wronski Feint, you really—"

But something moved behind Viktor in the trees, and Harry, instinctively grabbed Viktor's arm and pulled him around.

"Vot is it?" Viktor asked. I already had my wand in my hand, pointing at the spot where we'd seen the movement.

Harry shook his head, staring at the place where he'd seen movement. He slipped his hand inside his robes, reaching for his wand. Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, I didn't recognize him... Then I realized it was Mr. Crouch. He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and gray with exhaustion. His neat hair and mustache were both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see.

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Viktor, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"

Harry nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then started walking slowly toward Mr. Crouch. I quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned his head slightly, but couldn't see my expression. Clutching my wand in one hand, I grabbed Harry's, and we walked toward Mr. Crouch who did not look at us, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.

"... And when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve..."

"Mr. Crouch?" said Harry cautiously.

"... And then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen ... Do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will..." Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.

"Mr. Crouch?" Harry said loudly. "Are you all right?"

Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Harry looked around at Viktor, who had followed him into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.

"Vot is wrong with him?"

"No idea, " Harry muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone—"

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Harry's robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry's head. I kept my wand trained on the man, and watched the scene silently. "I need... See ... Dumbledore..."

"Okay," said Harry, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the-"

"I've done... Stupid... Thing..." Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must... Tell... Dumbledore..."

"Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Harry loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Dumbledore!"

Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Harry. "Who ... You?" he whispered.

"I'm a student at the school," said Harry, looking around at Viktor for some help, but Viktor was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.

"You're not... His?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.

"No," said Harry, obviously without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about.

"Dumbledore's?"

"That's right," said Harry.

Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen Crouch's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful. "Warn ... Dumbledore ..."

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him..."

"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. And Mrs. Fudge." Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there, which surprised Harry so much he didn't notice that Crouch had released him.

"Yes, my son has recently gained twelve OWLs, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response..."

"You stay here with him!" Harry said to Viktor. "I'll get Dumbledore, I'll be quicker, I know where his office is—"

"He is mad," said Viktor doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.

"Just stay with him," said Harry, starting to get up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Harry back to the ground.

"Don't... Leave... Me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I... Escaped... Must warn... Must tell... See Dumbledore... My fault... All my fault... Bertha... Dead ... All my fault... My son ... My fault... Tell Dumbledore ... Harry Potter ... The Dark Lord... Stronger... Harry Potter ..."

My eyes bulged as I pieced together his words, and I tightened my grip on my wand, staring at Mr. Crouch.

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" said Harry. He looked furiously around at Viktor. "Help me, will you?"

Looking extremely apprehensive, Viktor moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch. "Just keep him here," said Harry, pulling himself free of Mr. Crouch. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."

"Hurry, von't you?" Viktor called after him as we sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds.

As we ran, I cancelled the spell and reappeared, almost startling Harry. "What the hell was that?" I asked sharply as we tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the marble staircase, toward the second floor.

"I have no bloody idea." Harry muttered darkly.

"Did you hear what he was saying?" I asked. "About –"

"Sher—sherbet lemon!" Harry panted at the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. This apparently wasn't the password as the gargoyle remained frozen, staring at us malevolently. "Move! C'mon!" Harry shouted at it, but this, of course didn't work.

"Maybe he's in the staff room?" I suggested. Harry agreed and we started sprinting towards the staircase—

"POTTER!"

We skidded to a halt and looked around. Snape had just emerged from the hidden staircase behind the stone gargoyle. The wall was sliding shut behind him even as he beckoned Harry back toward him. I emerged from farther ahead, and upon seeing me, Snape's dark expression lifted slightly. "Miss Grey, what are you two doing here?" he asked, his voice hard but not mean, as it would have been if he'd been addressing Harry.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. It's an extreme emergency." I said hurriedly.

"It's Mr. Crouch... He's just turned up ... He's in the forest... He's asking—" Harry began.

"What is this rubbish?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering. "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Crouch!" Harry shouted. "From the Ministry! He's ill or something—he's in the forest, he wants to see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to—"

"The headmaster is busy. Potter, said Snape, his thin mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.

"I've got to tell Dumbledore!" Harry yelled.

"Didn't you hear me, Potter?" We could tell Snape was thoroughly enjoying himself, denying Harry the thing he wanted when he was so panicky.

"Professor, please," I pleaded. Snape's unpleasant smile faded at my tone. I was, after all, his favorite student. "Please sir, it truly is an emergency!"

"Fine." Snape snapped.

But just then, the stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression. "Is there a problem?" he said, looking between Harry, Snape, and I.

"Professor!" Harry said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here—he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"

We expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to our relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort. "Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Harry and I, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle.

"What did Mr. Crouch say?" said Dumbledore as we walked swiftly down the marble staircase.

"Said he wants to warn you... Said he's done something terrible ... He mentioned his son... And Bertha Jorkins... And—" Harry trailed off.

"And he mentioned Voldemort." I said. Dumbledore looked at me quickly. "He mentioned something about Voldemort getting stronger."

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as we hurried out into the pitch-darkness.

"He's not acting normally," Harry said, as we hurried along beside Dumbledore. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you... I left him with Viktor Krum."

"You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that we were running to keep up.

"Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"

"No," Harry and I said in unison.

"Krum and I were talking, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task," Harry said, "we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest—"

"Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbaton carriage emerged from the darkness.

"Over here," said Harry, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. We couldn't hear Crouch's voice anymore, but we knew where we were going; it hadn't been much past the Beauxbaton carriage... Somewhere around here...

"Viktor?" Harry shouted. No one answered.

"They were here," Harry said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here..."

"Lumos," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up.

Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet. Harry, Dumbledore, and I hurried forward. Viktor was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.

"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wand light as he peered around at the surrounding trees.

"Should we go and get someone?" said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."

He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.

I saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird, and knew that it was the modified Patronus spell. I made a mental note to teach the trio that spell.

Then Dumbledore bent over Viktor again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "Ennervate."

Viktor opened his eyes. He looked dazed. He saw Dumbledore first, but when his eyes fell on me, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.

"He attacked me!" Viktor muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"

"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.

The sound of thunderous footfalls reached us, and Hagrid came running into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow. "Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Harry, Gia—what the—?"

"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody—"

"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here "

Moody was limping toward us, leaning on his staff, his wand lit. I glanced at him suspiciously. How did he know to come out here?

"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker... What's happened? Snape said something about Crouch—"

Oh, that's how.

"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.

"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Oh yeah... Right y'are, Professor..." said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.

"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."

"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke again, and neither did I, until we heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.

"What is this?" he cried when he saw Viktor on the ground and Dumbledore, Harry, and I beside him. "What's going on?"

"I vos attacked!" said Viktor, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name—"

"Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"

"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid. Harry and I glanced at each other, and rolled our eyes.

"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences—here's what I think of you!"

Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. Harry gaped, stunned, and I glared at the foreign wizard. Such disrespect…

In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree. "Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.

"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing. Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.

"Kindly escort Harry and Gia back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.

Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look. "Maybe I'd better stay here. Headmaster..."

"You will take Harry and Gia back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take them right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Harry, and you as well Miss Grey—I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do—any owls you might want to send—they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"

"Err—yes," said Harry, staring at him.

"Yes, sir." I said, knowing that Harry was burning to send a letter to Sirius. I was as well.

"I'll leave Fang with yeh. Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Harry, Gia."

We marched in silence past the Beauxbaton carriage and up toward the castle.

"How dare he," Hagrid growled as we strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore? Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's been lately. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Harry, who looked up at him, taken aback.

"What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Harry! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own—"

"And that's another thing Gia," Hagrid growled, stomping up the steps, "the less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."

"That's not fair Hagrid, you were getting on all right with Madame Maxime!" I said with a flare of annoyance.

"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of 'em!"

Hagrid was in such a bad mood, we were quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. As soon as he'd gone, Harry and I hightailed it to the other side of the seventh floor and entered East Tower. When we arrived, I let out my frustration by yelling.

"Ron, Hermione, get your asses out here, right now!" I shouted, hoping Luna wasn't awake. Our two friends hurried from their separate rooms, perhaps hearing the note of urgency in my voice, and we dragged them into my room, closed and locked the door behind us, and I threw up a bunch of silencing and anti-eavesdropping charms. I trusted Luna, but this required more than caution. And finally, we told them both every single thing that had happened, starting with meeting up with Cedric.


	31. Progress

_Previous Chapter:_

_Hagrid was in such a bad mood, we were quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. As soon as he'd gone, Harry and I hightailed it to the other side of the seventh floor and entered East Tower. When we arrived, I let out my frustration by yelling._

"_Ron, Hermione, get your asses out here, right now!" I shouted, hoping Luna wasn't awake. Our two friends hurried from their separate rooms, perhaps hearing the note of urgency in my voice, and we dragged them into my room, closed and locked the door behind us, and I threw up a bunch of silencing and anti-eavesdropping charms. I trusted Luna, but this required more than caution. And finally, we told them both every single thing that had happened, starting with meeting up with Cedric._

**Chapter Thirty-One**

"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry, Gia, and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak—I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"He wasn't in his right mind to disapparate anyway," I added. "If he'd tried, he most likely would've splinched himself."

"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.

"Okay... How's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch—no, wait for it—and then Stunned himself!"

I slapped his forehead for that one.

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.

"Oh yeah..."

It was daybreak. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I had stealthily made our way down from East Tower very early and hurried to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now we were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All four of us were puffy-eyed and pale because we had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.

"Just go through it again, Harry, Gia," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"

"We've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault...He mentioned his son."

"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.

"He was out of his mind," I said, continuing for Harry, who was obviously slowly losing his temper. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."

"And... Remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.

"He said he's getting stronger." I said quietly.

There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving..."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. I looked at them.

"We already established that Voldemort was getting stronger. We know that he's trying to come back, and this is just further proof." I said.

"If Snape hadn't held us up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. 'The headmaster is busy, Potter...What's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe—hang on—how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.

"Will both of you shut up with the Snape theories?" I growled, rolling my eyes. "Snape was in Dumbledore's office when we first got there, he was still there while we talked to Dumbledore, and we were flat out running. There's no way he beat us out there, not without us seeing someone else. Besides, even if he had beaten us out there and hid until we left, he was the one that told Moody to come find us, meaning he was still in the castle."

The boys stared at me, piecing together my logic.

"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

I froze, and cocked my head to the side. "Shh!" I said suddenly, as the boys had started talking. "Somebody's coming."

We could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer. "That's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-"

"We've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did—"

"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"

The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, and then froze at the sight of us.

"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.

"What, at this time?" said Fred and I.

Fred grinned, and I rolled my eyes, though my lip twitched slightly.

"Fine—we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," he said. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. I glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.

"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door. Ron didn't move.

"Who're you blackmailing?" he said. The grin vanished from Fred's face.

"Don't ask, don't tell." I said. "I doubt we really want to know what these two are up to."

George grinned at me. "Too right you are, my dear Gia." I glared at him.

"On the other hand, you two could get into serious trouble if you're caught blackmailing someone." I warned.

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Gia. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

I snorted. "Doubt it," I said.

George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at me. "Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."

He and Fred left the Owlery.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I stared at one another. "You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"

"No," said Harry. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."

History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. It was maddening torture to listen to Binns's droning voice, and I had abandoned the effort early on. Harry kept checking Ron's watch, having finally discarded his own, but Ron's was moving so slowly we could have sworn it had stopped working too. All four of us were so tired we could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.

When the bell finally rang, we hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as we felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.

"Professor Moody?" Harry called as we made our way toward him through the crowd.

"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again.

"Come in here."

He stood back to let us into his empty classroom, limped in after us, and closed the door.

"Did you find him?" Harry asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"

"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask.

"So he did Disapparate?" said Ron.

"You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"

Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione. "You're another one who might think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way. Granger." Hermione flushed pink with pleasure.

"He must've left the grounds, then." Harry suggested

"But under his own steam?" said Hermione eagerly, "or because someone made him?"

"Yeah, someone could've - could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror.

"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.

"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"

"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here."

He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three fancy yourselves as investigators, and you, Grey, seem to have a bad habit of involving yourself in trouble, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."

"What?" said Harry. "Oh yeah..."

"Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his scarred and stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Sorcerer's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"

"We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me and Hermione helped." Hermione and I shared a look, rolling our eyes.

Moody grinned.

"Well, help him practice for this one, and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win," said Moody.

"Don't worry Professor," I said, grinning evilly at Harry, "I've been keeping him training in all of our spare time. He'll be ready."

Moody nodded his head, eyeing me appraisingly. "Very good Grey, very good. In the meantime...constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance." He took another long draw from his hip flask, and his magical eye swiveled onto the window. The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible through it.

"You three," counseled Moody, his normal eye on Ron, Hermione, and me "you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same...you can never have too many eyes out."

Sirius sent our owl back the very next morning. It fluttered down beside Harry at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!" then joined us in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.

_Harry -  
What do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed. _

_Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again.  
Sirius_

"Who's he, to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?" said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius's letter and put it inside his robes.

"Your godfather." I said seriously. Harry shot me a look that I returned evenly.

"He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"

"No one's tried to attack me all year," said Harry. "No one's done anything to me at all-"

"Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire," I said, rolling my eyes. "Harry, we all know that someone's been trying to kill you all year, the tournament is their entire cover!"

"Exactly," said Hermione. "And they must've done that for a reason, Harry. Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you."

"It makes sense," I added. "You'll be in a confusing, dark maze, mostly by yourself with loads of dangerous things that could _accidentally_ kill you, and no one would be the wiser. Sirius, Hagrid, and Moody are all right. We have to be especially careful from now on. That doesn't mean we have to hole up in the Tower twenty-four/seven, being scared of our own shadows, but we just have to look out for one another, now more than ever."

Harry opened his mouth to retort, and I grabbed his hand. I sighed, and pushed down the feeling of sudden sadness. I stared at Harry, and his expression melted as he looked at me. "Harry…" I said softly, "we… we're just worried, you know. We…I, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you because we weren't careful. Just please…"

Harry leaned forward and kissed me tenderly. "I'm sorry love," he said quietly, he brushed a stray curl from my face. "I was being insensitive. I know you all must worry terribly about me, and you've all done so much to help me and protect me, the least I can do is try to be cautious."

I smiled weakly and nodded. "That's all we ask." I said.

For the next few days, I kept the trio in the Room of Requirement even longer, training harder, learning more spells, as many as I could possibly teach them on such short notice. They learned loads, and they took training seriously. I pushed them harder on physical training, making them run and duel on uneven terrain, hills, mountains, forests, etc. I taught them how to use the environment to their advantage, even though I focused on drilling many spells into their brains mostly. I allowed Harry at least thirty minutes of flying each day, so that he wouldn't go crazy cooped up in the castle, though I would never admit to Hermione that the flying was as much for me as it was for Harry.

It was Monday, during lunchtime, that I had Harry practicing the Stunning Spell, even though he had mastered it. Luckily for all of us, the Room provided training dummies and none of us had to volunteer to be on the receiving end of one of Harry's spells. After Harry had successfully stunned the dummy for the eighth time, I stepped in. "Alright, that's enough. I want to teach you three a simple, but very helpful spell."

As usual, the trio paid rapt attention. "Now, like I said, this spell is highly simply, and its affects might seem useless, but I promise that it'll save your lives some day. Have any of you heard of the Adesse charm?" I asked. To my surprise, it was Harry who answered.

"Is that the spell," he said, thinking, "that causes the victim to suddenly raise their hand?" I grinned.

"Yes, how'd you know that?" I asked.

Harry shrugged. "I saw it in a book when we were looking up spells to practice." He said.

"Err, anyway, can any of you think of why this spell would save your life?" I continued.

"It's like if you're fighting a Death Eater," Ron began, "and he's about to cast some dark curse on you. You don't know if you can block it with a shield, and you don't want to risk hurting yourself trying to dive out of the way, so you use that charm, their hand flies up, and the spell misses."

I grinned and clapped, causing Ron's face to redden. Hermione and Harry laughed softly. "Exactly Ron, that's exactly right. However, you have to be careful when using this spell, because if your opponent happened to be using a destructive spell, like the Reducter Curse, and the spell hits the roof, it could bring down the whole thing. When using this spell, you have to be ready for the aftermath."

I looked around, and had the room bring up three dummies. "I'll have you practicing on dummies that shoot out the usual stinging hex, instead of having you practice on each other. You need practice in actual battle situations, and you don't have much motivation if you're not having the threat of pain hanging over you."

I taught them the spell, and let them practice until the bell rang. "I'll see you guys later," Hermione said, "I have Arithmacy."

"Well…" I said slowly. Hermione paused and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Well what?" she said. When I didn't reply, she huffed and stomped her foot. "Come on Gia, or I'll be late!"

"Well…" I continued, grinning, "you _could_ go to Arithmacy, or… you could stay here with us and learn the super cool and useful technique that I'm about to teach you."

Interest peaked, Hermione bit her lip and looked from me, to the boys, to the door. She glanced one more time at my large, eager smile before groaning and dropping her bag. Ron and Harry cheered and slapped fives, and I threw my arm around Hermione. "Trust me Mione, you'll enjoy this. It involves… research!" I said temptingly. The boys groaned while Hermione snorted.

Dropping back into her seat, Hermione waved her hand encouragingly. "Well go on and explain why I'm skipping class." She said, though not meanly.

"I had decided to teach you three how to become Animagi…" all three of them sat forward, "but I decided not to at the last minute." Holding up my hand to stop their protests, I continued. "I chose, instead, to teach you all full body transfiguration, like what Viktor did for the Second Task, only a complete form."

Hermione gasped. "B-but we're not supposed to learn that until sixth or seventh year!" I grinned.

"I know, so think of this as an opportunity to be ahead of the class. I talked to McGonagall, in a hypothetical sense of course, and she agreed that while being an Animagi may seem fun and glamorous, this way has more benefits." I explained.

"Like what?" Ron asked, leaning back. We all took a moment to get comfortable for the next hour or so before I answered.

"Well, with being an Animagi, the process is infinitely longer and more complicated, plus, the ability is actually rather rare. It's not as rare as books and the Ministry make it seem, but not everybody has the ability to become an Animagus, with transfiguration, that's not a risk as long as the person can do magic. Also, you don't have to register with the Ministry like you would have to if you became an Animagus, not that I would anyway…"

"What!' Hermione exclaimed. "But that's illegal!"

I leaned forward towards the girl and in my peripheral, saw the boys do the same to hear me. "Hermione, we've been tiptoeing around this since Christmas, and I know that none of us want to say it, but the hard fact is, we _are_ headed for war. We don't have time to play by the rules anymore. We do what we have to do to survive and protect those we love. Don't you remember what Sirius said during our last visit?"

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Voldemort had spies everywhere, even the Ministry. It'd be a simple task for him to simply look through the list of registered Animagi, and then that's it, you have no more advantage." I said. Leaning back again, I took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry for getting all serious on you, but this is not just something fun that I wanted to teach you. This is another tool, something else that could possibly save your life or keep you alive longer."

"I understand Gia," Hermione said quietly.

I ran a slightly shaky hand through my hair, brushing a few stray curls from my face. "The best part about using transfiguration is that, unlike Animagi, you get to choose your animal form. It's suggested that you do research and figure out which animal best represents your personality, something about your human mind coordinating with your animal body and instincts better. We also have to study our chosen animal's anatomy first, so that we don't mix anything up."

Just then, a large pile of books appeared on the table in front of us. "Becoming an Animagus is quite a bit like wandless magic, which is incredibly difficult, and so because we're using our wands for this, it should be that much easier. Well, let's get to it." We all picked up various books that seemed interesting, flipping through the pages silently. A little while before the bell was to ring, Hermione closed her book and fixed me with a confused stare.

"What is it, Mione?" I asked, bookmarking my own book and closing it.

"Why is it that you never tell us what you're going to teach us ahead of time?" she asked.

"That's actually a part of your training. I don't want any of you doing research ahead of time on what I'm about to teach you." I said.

"But, why not?" Hermione pushed.

"What if one day we're on the run, or in the middle of a battle, and I need to teach you three a spell really fast, a spell that could win the battle or save your life or the life of someone else? You're not going to have time to run to the library beforehand, so I'm trying to break you of the habit now." I explained calmly.

"Well, I suppose that—"

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled. Our heads snapped over and my eyes zeroed in on the problem. It was Harry. He was on the floor, clutching his scar, and judging from how tightly his teeth were clenched, he was holding back a scream. I ran over to him and dropped to my knees. I hesitated before knocking his hand and pressing my hand to his scar, never mind the blood. My eyes immediately clouded over.

I was watching from the sidelines again, but this time it was different. I could feel whatever Harry felt, and I hear Harry's thoughts. He was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower we flew, the wind blowing pleasantly in Harry's face, until we reached a dark and broken window in the upper story of the house and entered. Now we were flying along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end.

Through the door we went, into a dark room whose windows were boarded up… Harry had left the owl's back... He was watching, now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with its back to him... There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair... Both of them were stirring... One was a huge snake... The other was a man ... A short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose ... He was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug...

"You are in luck, Wormtail," said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl had landed. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."

"My Lord!" gasped the man on the floor. "My Lord, I am... I am so pleased... And so sorry..." I grimaced in disgust at the pathetic man. I knew who he was.

"Nagini," said the cold voice, "you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you, after all... But never mind, never mind... There is still Harry Potter..."

The snake hissed. We could see its tongue fluttering. "Now, Wormtail," said the cold voice, "perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you..."

"My Lord... No... I beg you..." The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of the chair. It was pointing at Wormtail. "_Crucio_!" said the cold voice. Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Harry's ears and mine, as the scar on his forehead seared with pain, pain that I felt in my own forehead. We were yelling too... Voldemort would hear us, would know we were there...

"Harry! Gia!"

I opened my eyes. I was lying on the floor, covering Harry's body with my own as if protecting him. Harry's hands were over mine, seeing as mine were still clamped over his burning scar. As I touched him, I felt the pain in my forehead. Slowly, I removed my hand and the pain disappeared. I sighed in relief but saw Harry grimace. Replacing my hand, he relaxed slightly as the burning returned. Was I… was I taking some of Harry's pain for him?

Ron and Hermione were both kneeling beside us, looking terrified. "Merlin, are you two alright?" Ron asked, his voice slightly higher than usual. I stood up, keeping skin to skin contact with Harry as I helped him up.

"I-I don't know." I said. "Harry, what was that? Is that what happened over the summer?" He nodded. "Well, come on." I said, tugging his hand gently.

"Wait, what happened? Where are you going?" Hermione asked desperately.

"We have to go see Dumbledore, like Sirius said." I said, "We'll explain when we come back. Until the bell rings, don't leave the room."

We hurried down the corridor, and as we walked, I used a few cleaning spells to clear the blood up from our hands and Harry's face. I used a cooling charm and felt the burning go down significantly. "Thank you," Harry said softly, though I could tell he was deep in thought.

"Harry, was… was that Voldemort?" I asked quietly. Harry nodded.

"That… vision, or whatever it was," Harry said, looking around to make sure we were alone. I threw up a powerful privacy charm around us and nodded for him to continue. "It had been as vivid as the one that had awoken me on Privet Drive..."

"I was there, but tell me what you remember." I gently prodded.

"I… I'd heard Voldemort accusing Wormtail of making a blunder... But the owl had brought good news, the blunder had been repaired, somebody was dead ... So Wormtail was not going to be fed to the snake... I…I was going to be fed to it instead..."

Harry had walked right past the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledores office without noticing, pulling me with him as we still clasped hands. I pulled him back and we stood in front of the stone gargoyle. "Do you know the password?" I asked.

Harry shook his head. "We'll have to fall back on the alternative method."

"Sherbet lemon?" he tried tentatively. The gargoyle did not move. "Okay," said Harry, staring at it, "Pear Drop. Err—Licorice Wand, Fizzing Whizbee, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans... Oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?"

I would've laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. "The alternative method is guessing candies?" I asked. Harry rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Alright, let me try." I said, seeing that Harry was getting frustrated. "Err… Chocolate Frog, Sugar Quill, oh! Cockroach Cluster." I guessed. The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside.

Harry blinked. "Cockroach Cluster?" he said, amazed.

"I was only joking..." I said, "that is disgusting."

As soon as the gargoyle had moved aside, voice floated to my sensitive ears, and I grabbed Harry's hand. "He has company," I said. We shared a look before hurrying through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind us, taking us up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker.

From the way Harry tilted his head, I could tell that only now could he hear voices from inside the office. We stepped off the moving staircase and hesitated, listening.

"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Ludo says Berthas perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's—"

"And what do you think has happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" said Moody's growling voice.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked—more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history—lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere—"

"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Or else—well..." Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbaton carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"

I rolled my eyes in disgust. And this incompetent bigoted fool was the leader of our government? We were doomed.

"I consider her to be a very able headmistress—and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless—if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got—" Harry clenched his fist and I tugged his hand, stopping him from storming the office. I was angry as well, but jumping in headfirst would do us no good.

"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.

"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.

"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter and his girlfriend, Grey, want a word with you, Dumbledore. They're just outside the door."


	32. Into The Pensieve

_Previous Chapter:_

_"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody. _

_"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently. _

_"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter and his girlfriend, Grey, want a word with you,__Dumbledore. They're just outside the door."_

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

The door of the office opened.

"Hello, Potter, Grey," said Moody. "Come in, then." Harry and I walked inside. When Harry had told me that Dumbledore's office was the most interesting of all the professors, I hadn't expected what I saw. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames, or at least, pretending to. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat—the Sorting Hat.

Something the Sorting Hat had told me that first day when I was Sorted had stuck with me until that day, and while I was curious, I had a somewhat distraught boyfriend to steer through a meeting. Facing the men, I curtsied low and gracefully, smiling. "Good afternoon sirs, we apologize for disrupting your meeting." I said politely.

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling away as usual, perhaps a bit more than usual as he glanced at Minister Fudge's dazed expression. Moody blinked twice before shaking his head. Fudge licked his lips nervously before stepping forward and bowing. I held out my hand, which he kissed and I fought not to grimace or wipe my hand on my robes as he let go. Pureblood mask firmly in place, I raised a delicate eyebrow.

"Lady Grey, a pleasure as always to see you. I trust you are doing well at our fine educational establishment." Fudge said formally, a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead. I smiled, almost predatorily, at the Minister. He knew that between my family name and Harry's fame, we could have him out of office faster than Skeeter could ruin a reputation.

"Yes Minister, Professor Dumbledore is a very efficient and caring Headmaster, really takes care of his students, and my other professors are just as well. I'm learning loads, sir. I trust that all is well within the Ministry? Taking care of the Crouch and Bertha Jorkins problems?" I said calmly. Dumbledore looked as though he was seriously holding back laughter, Moody as well, as Fudge's face drained of all color and he eyed Dumbledore uneasily.

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not? You and Harry?"

"Yes," said Harry. He most likely felt as though it was pointless to pretend that we hadn't overheard what they had been saying, he added, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling. "Yes, well, " said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, Lady Grey, if you'll excuse us... Perhaps if you just go back to your class—"

"I wanted to talk to you. Professor, " Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look. "Wait here for me, Harry, Gia," he said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."

They trooped out in silence past us and closed the door. After a minute or so, we heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. Harry turned to me and raised his eyebrow. "Lady Grey?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, since I'm the only child and last of my family, I am Head of the Most Ancient and Gracious House of Grey, therefore, Lady Grey. Trust me, that's bloody torture writing on formal letters. I suppose I should get a stamp or something…" Harry shook his head and looked around.

"Hello, Fawkes," he said. Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at Harry. Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, and I settled easily in his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his face in the crook of my neck.

For several minutes, we sat and watched the old headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their frames, thinking about what we had just heard. The pain in my forehead had stopped completely, and Harry looked much calmer now that we were in Dumbledore's office. Harry looked up at the walls behind the desk, and I followed his eyes. The patched and ragged Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt.

I stood up and moved around the desk to get a closer look. "Wow," I breathed, "Godric Gryffindor's very own sword. This is the one you pulled from the Hat, in second year?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. Harry nodded. Slowly, I walked over to the Sorting Hat and reached up, hesitating before I removed him from his shelf. Wrinkling my nose, I placed the Hat gently on my head.

'_I find it amusing that Potter did this very same thing in his first year, doubting his place in Gryffindor.' _The Hat said inside my head. I glanced at Harry who was simply staring off into space, lost in thought.

'_It's just that… something you told me has been bothering me all year.'_ I thought. '_You said 'Courage can be pulled from the most surprising sources, but cunning is always there when you need it.' What was that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I should've been in Slytherin?'_

'_I'm saying that you could've done well in either House, and despite what most people think, those two Houses are the most alike of them all. You have courage and bravery in spades, Miss Grey, but your cunning knows no bounds. Do not lose that because of what House you were put in.' _The Hat clarified. I nodded and thanked it, before replacing it on its shelf.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed a patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the glass case of the sword. I looked around for the source of the light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet behind Harry, whose door had not been closed properly. I walked over to Harry and tapped him, pointing to the cabinet. Harry hesitated, glanced at Fawkes, then got up, walked across the office, and pulled open the cabinet door.

A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that I couldn't translate, but I did recognize. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents. It was hard to tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish-silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. I gasped. "It's a Pensieve."

"A what?" Harry asked, seemingly mesmerized by the swirling patterns.

"It's a magical device that allows one to deposit memories into it to be stored and viewed at another time. Once inside, it's like what you described being in Riddle's diary, watching the events play out, but not being able to be seen or heard, or even felt. It's rather amazing." I said.

Harry grinned. "You sound like Hermione." Before I could react, Harry had stuck his hand into the contents of the basin, and disappeared. Cursing, I stuck my hand in the cool substance and felt my feet leave the ground.

I appeared beside Harry in an enormous room. The room was dimly lit; it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. We saw that rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. An empty chair stood in the very center of the room. There was something about the chair that gave me an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.

Growling, I slapped the back of Harry's head. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you know not to stick your hand in unknown substances?"

Harry grinned. "You told me what it was, so I figured it was safe. Where are we?" he asked.

"One of the underground courtrooms in the Ministry; it looks like there's going to be a criminal trial," I said, pointing to the chained chair.

I pulled Harry away, and we sat on a bench at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench raised high above the others. Harry looked to his left and yelped, and my head snapped over. I raised an eyebrow at Harry, who was staring at our Headmaster, Dumbledore. "Harry, these are his memories you know." I said patronizingly.

Harry rolled his eyes and waved his hand energetically in front of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Harry, or indeed move at all. I rolled my eyes this time and took his hand in mine. The room was certainly underground—more of a dungeon than a room, really. There was a bleak and forbidding air about the place; there were no pictures on the walls, no decorations at all; just these serried rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, all positioned so that they had a clear view of that chair with the chains on its arms. I'd been here several times before for tours of the Ministry organized by Fudge, and it looked the same as ever.

A second later, we heard footsteps. The door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered—or at least one man, flanked by two dementors. My insides went cold. The dementors—tall, hooded creatures whose faces were concealed—were gliding slowly toward the chair in the center of the room, each grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between them looked as though he was about to faint, and I couldn't blame him...

With all my training, and though I produce a perfectly strong corporeal Patronus, those damned creatures still scared the shit out of me. The things they made me see… I knew the dementors could not touch me inside a memory, but I remembered their power only too well. The watching crowd recoiled slightly as the dementors placed the man in the chained chair and glided back out of the room. The door swung shut behind them. We looked down at the man now sitting in the chair and saw that it was Karkaroff.

"Oh shit," I gasped, paying much more attention. "This is it, Harry! This is the trial Sirius was telling us about, this is how Karkaroff got out of prison!"

Unlike Dumbledore, Karkaroff looked much younger; his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. He was shaking. Even as we watched, the chains on the arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff's arms, binding him there. "Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to Harry's left. We looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing up in the middle of the bench beside him.

Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."

Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, tightly bound to the chair. "I have, sir," he said, and although his voice was very scared, I could still hear the familiar unctuous note in it. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I—I know that the Ministry is trying to—to round up the last of the Dark Lords supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can..."

There was a murmur around the benches. Some of the wizards and witches were surveying Karkaroff with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then we heard, quite distinctly, from Dumbledores other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, "Filth."

We leaned forward so that we could see past Dumbledore. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there—except that there was a very noticeable difference in his appearance. He did not have his magical eye, but two normal ones. Both were looking down upon Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike. "Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the dementors." I nodded in agreement.

Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose. "Ah, I was forgetting... You don't like the dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile.

"No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."

"But for filth like this..." Moody said softly.

"Some of them deserve it," I said quietly to Harry, "people like Voldemort and the Lestranges, but not everyone in Azkaban deserves to be in the presence of such horrid creatures."

"You say you have names for us, Karkaroff," said Mr. Crouch. "Let us hear them, please."

"You must understand," said Karkaroff hurriedly, "that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy... He preferred that we—I mean to say, his supporters—and I regret now, very deeply, that I ever counted myself among them—"

"Get on with it," sneered Moody.

"We never knew the names of every one of our fellows—He alone knew exactly who we all were—"

"Which was a wise move, wasn't it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in," muttered Moody.

"Yet you say you have some names for us?" said Mr. Crouch.

"I—I do, " said Karkaroff breathlessly.

"And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him, and am filled with remorse so deep I can barely—"

I rolled my eyes and huffed. Geez, this guy was laying it on thick. But, I suppose when it's your freedom and sanity at stake…

"These names are?" said Mr. Crouch sharply. Karkaroff drew a deep breath.

"There was Antonin Dolohov," he said. "I—I saw him torture countless Muggles and—and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."

"And helped him do it," murmured Moody.

"Moody sure has a lot to say about Karkaroff," Harry said, "and a lot of hate for him too."

"Moody hates all of them, and with good reason. He's seen firsthand the things they've done to people, things worse than death itself." I murmured back.

"We have already apprehended Dolohov," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after yourself."

"Indeed?" said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. "I—I am delighted to hear it!"

But he didn't look it. I could tell that this news had come as a real blow to him. One of his names was worthless.

"Any others?" said Crouch coldly.

"Why, yes... There was Rosier," said Karkaroff hurriedly. "Evan Rosier."

"Rosier is dead," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle."

"Took a bit of me with him, though," whispered Moody to Harry's right. We looked around at him once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk out of his nose to Dumbledore.

"Damn," Harry and I muttered in unison.

"No-no more than Rosier deserved!" said Karkaroff, a real note of panic in his voice now.

Karkaroff's eyes darted toward the door in the corner, behind which the dementors undoubtedly still stood, waiting. "Any more?" said Crouch.

"Yes!" said Karkaroff. "There was Travers—he helped murder the McKinnons! Mulciber—he specialized in the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do horrific things! Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the Ministry itself!"

We could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together. "Rookwood?" said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her piece of parchment. "Augustus Rookwood… of the Department of Mysteries?"

"The very same," said Karkaroff eagerly. "I believe he used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and out, to collect information—"

"But Travers and Mulciber we have," said Mr. Crouch. "Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be returned to Azkaban while we decide—"

"Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!" I could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard. "Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"

"Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."

"What!" Harry snapped. "Dumbledore vouched for that greasy bastard?"

"No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"

Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. "I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."

Harry turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was wearing a look of deep skepticism behind Dumbledore's back. "What about before that bastard switched sides?" Harry hissed. "What about all of the people he killed or tortured? What if he was a double spy?"

"Harry love, calm down for a moment. We'll figure it out." I said.

"Very well, Karkaroff," Crouch said coldly, "you have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime..."

Mr. Crouch's voice faded. I looked around; the dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of smoke; everything was fading; I could see only my own body and Harry's—all else was swirling darkness... And then, the dungeon returned. We were sitting in a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were talking to one another, almost as though they were at some sort of sporting event.

I noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite. She had short blonde hair, was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter. I rolled my eyes. Harry looked around; Dumbledore was sitting beside him again, wearing different robes. Mr. Crouch looked more tired and somehow fiercer, gaunter...

And then, I understood. It was a different memory, a different day ... A different trial. The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman walked into the room. This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn't broken now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, but it did not bind him there as it had bound Karkaroff, and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at a couple of them, and managed a small smile.

"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters," said Mr. Crouch. "We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgment?"

Harry obviously couldn't believe his ears. His expression was one of pure incredulity. Ludo Bagman, a Death Eater?

"Only," said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, "well—I know I've been a bit of an idiot—"

One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity and dislike. "You never spoke a truer word, boy," someone muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind Harry. We looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. "If I didn't know he'd always been dim, I'd have said some of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain..."

"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters," said Mr. Crouch. "For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than—"

But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at Mr. Crouch.

"But I've told you, I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, his round blue eyes widening. "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's... Never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information for our side! And Rookwood kept talking about getting me a job in the Ministry later on... Once my Quidditch days are over, you know... I mean, I can't keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, can I?"

There were titters from the crowd. "It will be put to the vote," said Mr. Crouch coldly. He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. "The jury will please raise their hands... Those in favor of imprisonment..."

Harry and I looked toward the right-hand side of the dungeon. Not one person raised their hand. Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up. "Yes?" barked Crouch.

"We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday," the witch said breathlessly. Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.

"Despicable," Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon.

"Rookwood get him a job indeed... The day Ludo Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the Ministry..." And the dungeon dissolved again. When it had returned, we looked around. Harry and Dumbledore were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the atmosphere could not have been more different. There was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her mouth with trembling hands. I looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.

"Bring them in," he said, and his voice echoed through the silent dungeon. The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people. I saw the people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another. The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief.

"Oh no," I whispered, staring at the scene.

"What is it, love?" Harry asked, taking my hand.

"This is Crouch Jr.'s trial." I said.

Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face. "You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," he said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous—"

"Father," said the boy with the straw-colored hair. "Father... Please..."

"That we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice. "We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror—Frank Longbottom—and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—"

"Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the dementors—"

"You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury—"

"Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. "Mother, stop him. Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"

Harry stared transfixed as the memory unraveled and progressed. He seemed to be in a mixed state of disbelief and stunned shock. Suddenly, he looked at me. "This is why Neville was so pale and shaken when Moody demonstrated the Unforgivables, isn't it? Because they tortured his parents?" he asked seriously. I nodded. "What happened to them?"

I hesitated. "Gia please," Harry pleaded.

I felt tears prickle behind my eyes. "They— they were tortured into insanity. It's almost as if they were Kissed. They're vegetables." I said thickly, refusing to look Harry in the eyes. Instead, I focused on the trial.

"I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"

In unison, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy began to scream. "No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!"

The dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"

"This is what happened…" Harry said quietly, staring intently at Bellatrix Lestrange's face, "after my parents…"

"Yeah," I muttered, "I believe this happened either the next day or perhaps two days afterward."

"So, this is right after Dumbledore dumped me on the Dursley's doorstep, and Sirius got sent to prison." Harry said, his tone hard.

The boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though I could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. "I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"

"You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!" The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed. "Take them away!" Crouch roared at the dementors, spit flying from his mouth. "Take them away, and may they rot there!"

"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"

"I think, children, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice in my ear. Harry started. We looked around. Then we looked on Harry's other side. There was an Albus Dumbledore sitting on his right, watching Crouch's son being dragged away by the dementors—and there was an Albus Dumbledore on his left, looking right at us.

"Come," said the Dumbledore on his left, and he put his hands under our elbows. I felt myself rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around me; for a moment, all was blackness, and then I felt as though I had done a slow-motion somersault, suddenly landing flat on my feet, in what seemed like the dazzling light of Dumbledore's sunlit office. The stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of us, and Albus Dumbledore was standing beside us.

"Professor," Harry gasped, "I know I shouldn't've—I didn't mean—the cabinet door was sort of open and—"

"Professor," I continued, though calmer, "we're sorry. It's just… there's so much going on right now, so many pieces we don't quite have or understand yet—"

"I quite understand," said Dumbledore. He lifted the basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He motioned for us to sit down opposite him. Harry did so, and I sat in the chair beside him. Our hands automatically found each other, but Harry was staring at the stone basin. The contents had returned to their original, silvery-white state, swirling and rippling beneath his gaze.

"Do you know what this is?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"It's a Pensieve, sir." I answered.

"That's right, but do you know what it's for?" he continued.

"It stores your memories for later viewing." I said.

"Quite right, but it's also useful for other things. For example, I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

I nodded seriously.

"At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

"So, those are your actual thoughts?" Harry said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.

"Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Let me show you."

Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his robes and placed the tip into his own silvery hair, near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair seemed to be clinging to it—but then I saw that it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve. Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, and Harry, clearly astonished, saw his own face swimming around the surface of the bowl.

Dumbledore placed his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for fragments of gold... And we saw Harry's own face change smoothly into Snape's, who opened his mouth and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly. "It's coming back... Karkaroff's too... Stronger and clearer than ever..."

"A connection I could have made without assistance," Dumbledore sighed, "but never mind."

He peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles at us, Harry was gaping at Snape's face, which was continuing to swirl around the bowl. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."

I kept my suspicions to myself. "Naturally," I repeated.

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... Yes, indeed ..."

Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the basin with the tip of his wand. Instantly, a figure rose out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. She took no notice whatsoever of us or Professor Dumbledore. When she spoke, her voice echoed as Snape's had done, as though it were coming from the depths of the stone basin.

"He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday..."

"But why, Bertha," said Dumbledore sadly, looking up at the now silently revolving girl, "why did you have to follow him in the first place?"

"Bertha?" Harry whispered, looking up at her. "Is that—was that Bertha Jorkins?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they became silvery and opaque once more. "That was Bertha as I remember her at school."

The rest of the meeting was spent discussing what we'd seen in the Pensieve, as well as explaining to Dumbledore about Harry's vision, leaving my involvement out of it. Throughout it all, I was stunned with how many half-truths that Dumbledore gave us and I was even more surprised that Harry seemed to accept them. Before we left, Dumbledore bid Harry good luck with the third task.


	33. I Love You

_**A/N: Happy Saturday, everyone. This chapter sort of builds up to the immense excitement in the next one, which is, finally, the Third Task.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_The rest of the meeting was spent discussing what we'd seen in the Pensieve, as well as explaining to Dumbledore about Harry's vision, leaving my involvement out of it. Throughout it all, I was stunned with how many half-truths that Dumbledore gave us and I was even more surprised that Harry seemed to accept them. Before we left, Dumbledore bid Harry good luck with the third task._

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.

We'd found Hermione and Ron in East Tower right before dinner and had told them everything, starting with the actual vision and continuing on, only leaving out the story of Neville's parents. We'd paused our conversation only during dinner, but afterwards had continued in my room back up in East Tower.

"We already knew that," I said quietly.

"I know…" he sighed, "it's just, having Dumbledore confirm it…"

"Makes it that much more real and terrifying," I finished.

Ron stared into my bedroom fire. I swear I saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm. "And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"

"Yes," said Harry. "But I don't think anything Snape did after he so-called defected, makes up for everything he's done as a Death Eater."

"Do you know what someone has to do before they become a Death Eater? As an initiation?" I said softly, staring into the crackling flames as well. "They have to kidnap someone, a muggle or muggleborn preferably. They torture them in all sorts of horrible, terrible ways and they kill them. When I was researching old Death Eater trials, I found out that most of those bastards chose woman or little girls to _play _with."

My voice was cold and hard, and when I glanced up, Ron and Harry looked sick. Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. I thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve.

"Rita Skeeter," she muttered finally.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief.

"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking... Remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? _'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl._' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember... _'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard_.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?"

Hermione shrugged.

"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbaton carriage."

"We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-"

"Of course she doesn't," said Hermione sharply, looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth." Hermione looked at her watch and sighed. "Look, it's getting late and we need as much energy as possible for training tomorrow."

After bidding Ron and Hermione goodnight, Harry and I changed into our pajamas and cuddled together that night, perhaps closer and tighter than usual, as if assuring ourselves that the other wouldn't disappear in the night. After I had been staring at the same spot in the canopy for almost an hour, I sighed and breathed in Harry's scent, my face buried in his neck. "Harry?" I whispered.

His arms tightened around me. "Hmm..?" he responded, the vibration rumbling in his chest. For the better part of an hour, I had been pondering my life before and after coming to Hogwarts. I was so completely grateful to have been accepted and cared for by my friends, and I valued each friendship that I made. I'd do anything for these people, but whenever I thought about Harry, and how much he meant to me, my heart practically exploded with emotion.

What I felt for Harry was the most spectacular, indescribable, deep euphoric feeling, and I'd never, ever felt it for anyone else in my life. With Harry, I always wanted to be together, and when we're not, I'm thinking about being together. I trust Harry with my life, with my everything, and I would do anything for him.

I want nothing more than for him to be truly happy no matter what it takes because that's how much I care about him and because his needs come before my own. I hide nothing of myself from Harry because I know that he'll accept me just the way I am, and I accept him. Harry's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep, and the first thing I think of when I wake up. Just thinking of him, or hearing his name warms my heart, and the feeling couldn't get any better.

"You know I care about you, right?" I murmured.

"Of course," he mumbled, "as I do for you."

I hesitated before whispering, "I—I… I love you, Harry." As soon as I said the words, I immediately knew that they were right and completely true.

Harry paused for a second before sleepily kissing my forehead. "I love you too Gia," he said sincerely, "more than anything; never doubt that."

After that, I fell asleep rather easily, a soft smile on my face.

In those days, while I trained Ron and Hermione whenever I could, I focused on Harry. While I was putting Harry through his paces and pushing him even harder, I was drilling the other two on any and everything from first year until then, helping them study for their exams. I was more than prepared to take my NEWTs, of course, and so I only brushed up on a few things while I helped them all. I found that I liked the feeling of accomplishment as I helped the three prepare. In between their usual training, I had them studying for their animal transfigurations, even though we all agreed to wait to try it, seeing as we already had a lot going on at the moment.

"Are you sure you don't mind helping us, Gia, when you could be studying?" Hermione asked one day, as I quizzed her on various potion ingredients and how they reacted to each other. As I helped her in Potions, I was lazily shooting charms at Ron while he had three seconds to figure out which counter-charm to use or block it, and I had the Room of Requirement have dueling dummies randomly pop up around Harry and engage him in battle for one minute each. I was proud to say that they were all doing rather well, but I guess that's what eight months of training will do for someone.

"I told you I'm more than prepared Mione, besides, by helping you, I'm still studying myself, I promise. Monkshood and wolfsbane?" I added.

"Are the same plant," she said quickly, "also known as aconite, and is used in the Draught of Peace." I nodded.

Without looking at Ron, I flicked my wand and shot a tickling charm at him. He casually blocked it with a _Protego_ shield. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a dummy rise from the ground and immediately engage Harry in battle before disappearing a minute later, only to be replaced by another dummy in a different spot. We had a good system going…

The mood in the castle as we entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. In between training, I was thinking about what I wanted to do over the summer, which was arriving faster than I'd imagined. On more than one occasion, the trio caught me simply gazing off into space, daydreaming about the sort of vacation I wanted to have.

"Come and look at this," said Ron, one day, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Bulstrode doing?"

Hermione, Harry, and I went to see. Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Bulstrode was holding her hand up to her mouth and speaking into it.

"She looks like she's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

"She can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's finish our laps."

Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione and I, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before we concerned ourselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it.

_If Voldemort is really getting stronger again_, he wrote, _my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters._

Harry's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. As I had for the other two tasks, I kept him preoccupied, whether it was training, flying, or just fooling around. I could tell that Harry wasn't too concerned with how well he did this time. This was the final hurdle, and no matter if he messed up or not, the tournament would be over, and the greatest pressure would be lifted.

The morning of the third task, I thought I'd wake Harry up in a very interesting way. He moaned as his eyes opened, and he looked down at me. "Maybe I should be in dangerous tournaments more often if this is what I get." He grinned. Laughing, I kissed him thoroughly.

"That's just the beginning, Wonder Boy, it's shower time." I said, pulling him out of bed.

A bit later than usual, Harry and I emerged and walked down to the Great Hall with Ron, Hermione, and Luna, all wearing smiles. Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table that morning. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was short, but heartfelt, and Harry appreciated it all the same, tucking it into his shirt pocket. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together, staring at her.

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it.

He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."

"What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"

"No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.

"It's about me, isn't it?" said Harry.

"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone.

"Oh Merlin," I groaned. I summoned the paper from Ron's hands, but before I could look at it, Millicent Bulstrode shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.

"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?" Bulstrode was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction. I glanced at Pansy, Daphne, and Malfoy. They all looked helplessly at me and shrugged so I knew they hadn't had anything to do with it. I almost found it odd or interesting that they had been mostly friendly or decent since being invited to my party.

"Gia," Harry said, I could hear that he was fighting to keep his voice even, "what does it say?"

I looked down at the paper, and my eyes narrowed at the headline. "_**HARRY POTTER "DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS.**_" I bit out.

"Read the article," Harry said, his tone hard.

"_The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School. _

_Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a self-study lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the room, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying. _

"_It is possible," say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, "that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion."_

_"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention." _

_The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public. _

_"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Millicent Bulstrode, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."_

_Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers."_

_Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."_

_Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening."_

Similarly to the magazine a few months ago, the Daily Prophet burst into flames and burned itself to ashes on the floor of the Great Hall. There was a slight hush in noise in the Hall, and I looked up at the Slytherin Table. Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at Harry, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes. I felt a sort of icy calm come over me, and I didn't react as I looked back at my friends. This, my lack of reaction, seemed to frighten them more.

"How did she know your scar hurt during training?" Ron said. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard—"

"I had the room make a few windows," I said softly, "it was getting hot, and I needed to breathe."

"We were on the seventh floor!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"

"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I... But..."

An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie.

Harry and Ron stared at each other.

"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know... Because then no one would be able to see ... Even Moody... And she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge... But she's not allowed... She's definitely not allowed ... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library—just to make sure!"

With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

"Oi!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Harry and I, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class—read again?"

Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task.

"S'pose so, " Harry said to Ron.

But as the two talked, I felt the proverbial light bulb go on above my head and I cursed. "I can't believe I never realized it before!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, not you too!" Ron groaned.

But just then, Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward us. "Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time. I used a quick spell to clean him up, and gave him an exasperated glance.

"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."

"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" he asked Ron blankly.

"Dunno," said Ron. The two looked at me, but I simply smiled mysteriously.

"You'll enjoy it, I promise, love." I said, giving him a loving kiss. "Come on Ron, or we'll be late for Binns."

After bidding Harry goodbye, and kissing him again, Ron and I hurried to the History of Magic room where we found Hermione bouncing in her seat. "What's got you all excited? It's just an exam, Hermione." Ron said, sitting on her left.

"No, no, I figured out how Rita's been spying!" Hermione breathed.

"I believe I have too," I said as the bell rang. "We'll talk about it later."

The room fell silent as our exams magically appeared in front of us. Setting up my ink and quill, I sighed and looked down at the first question: _In your own words, what was the cause of the 1578 Goblin Rebellion?_

I rolled my eyes. I swear, there's a goblin rebellion every ten bloody years. I poised my quill over the parchment to answer when I felt my eyes cloud over. Dammit!

_When I opened my eyes, I immediately noticed that something was off. Looking down, I saw that I wasn't myself. I was…Harry. I was going through the vision from Harry's perspective. My control over the body seemed to seize up, and I could only watch. Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Viktor slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family—no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway. _

_But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out. "Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"_

_Utterly perplexed, Harry got up. The Dursleys couldn't possibly be here, could they? He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, grinning._

_Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him. "Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. _

_"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail. How's that girlfriend of yours?"_

_Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them. _

_"She's doing great, been keeping me training and studying." Harry responded, smiling softly. "This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment—the Dursleys—"_

_"Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned. But then she smiled, looking over his shoulders. "Turn around, dear, you're family's all here now." She said._

_Harry slowly turned around, and upon spotting Remus entering the chamber with a large, shaggy black dog, his eyes lit up. "Remus! Snuffles!" He ran forward and enveloped the rather healthy man in a tight hug, before scratching the playful dog behind the ears, causing his tail to wag sporadically._

"_What are you doing here?" Harry asked, a huge smile on his face as he led the two newcomers over to the two Weasleys. After greetings were made, Remus responded._

"_Gia wrote us and told us that parents were welcome to come watch the task." His eyes softened sadly. "We aren't exactly parents, but I hope we're decent substitutes."_

_Harry hugged the man again. "Of course Remus, I wouldn't want it any other way." Then, he snorted and grinned. "Gia is always a step ahead, isn't she?"_

_Remus laughed. "Definitely, never try to lie to her or get one over on her, she'll catch it instantly. You're quite lucky to have her, Harry. I know, without a doubt in my heart or mind, that James would've loved her prankster side especially, and Lily her compassion and intelligence. Both of them would've loved her personality. I know they approve."_

_Harry blushed and ducked his head, ignoring the dog's teasing bark._

_"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"_

_"Oh yeah," said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year. _

_"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill. _

_"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning—"_

_"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement. Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. _

_"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle—he was the caretaker in those days—your father's still got the marks."_

"_Filch was just starting in our day," Remus supplied. "The old git was always eager to catch James, Sirius, and I. Of course," he gave a mock-cocky grin, "that's impossible."_

_Mrs. Weasley amazed them all by snorting. "Impossible? So I suppose you all set the record for most detentions on purpose, eh?" she asked. Harry's eyes widened and his lips twitched as he looked at Remus's red face. Snuffles was giving a toothy, doggy grin._

"_Err," Remus stammered, "how do you know that?"_

"_Fred and George were rather put out when they found out that they hadn't set the record yet. They checked." Mrs. Weasley explained exasperatedly._

_"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill, chuckling._

_"Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall._

_As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around. "There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"_

_"What?" said Harry. _

_"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. "He's been angry all day about something that happened at the Ministry. Skeeter's article this morning didn't exactly help."_

_"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still, you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"_

_"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"_

_Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away. Harry had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbaton carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school._

_Remus had, unabashed, explained why it had been planted for him when he started at Hogwarts, which prompted an explanation about why he was no longer a werewolf. At the end of the conversation, both Weasleys were amazed. Mrs. Weasley's eyes were shining. "Oh, Gia is such a kind hearted girl! Harry, you treat that girl right, you hear me young man?"_

_Harry nodded seriously, fighting himself not to smile. "Yes, ma'am."_

_Mrs. Weasley then reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg. _

_"How's Percy?" Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses. _

_"Not good," said Bill. _

_"He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."_

The scene disappeared as I felt a sharp pinch on my right thigh. I bit my lip to stifle a yelp and shot Hermione a glare. She tapped her wrist and nodded at my exam. Looking down, I saw that I hadn't even answered the first question. Casting a _tempus _under the desk, I saw that I had forty minutes. I had only been in the vision for twenty minutes. Focusing my thoughts, I pulled up everything I could remember of History of Magic and set about acing the exam.

Forty minutes later, I watched calmly as our exams magically disappeared from our desks and stood up with the others as the bell rang. "Come on," I said, grabbing my bag, "Harry'll be in the Great Hall for lunch." Hermione and I chatted lightly about the exam until we had arrived at the somewhat full Great Hall.

"Mum—Bill!" Ron said, looking stunned, as we joined the Gryffindor table. I leaned over and kissed Harry as a greeting before sitting down beside him. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh... Okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, and so I invented a few. It's alright," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

Remus laughed. "I believe James did that for our History of Magic OWL, but he got an Outstanding anyway." He said, shaking his head with a grin. I looked at Harry, who looked incredibly happy, even as Ginny, Fred, and George joined us at the table. Snuffles was lying down on the floor underneath Harry's seat, whining until one of us handed him food or petted him.

"It's nice to see you again, Professor." Hermione said.

"There's no need to call me Professor, Hermione. Remus will do just fine. Speaking of professors, how's Moody this year?" Remus asked.

All of us who'd had Moody's class exchanged long looks, something only Remus and Bill seemed to catch. Mrs. Weasley was too busy gushing over her other children. Since Hermione, Ron, and I had the afternoon off, we joined Harry, Remus, Snuffles, and the two Weasleys for a very enjoyable long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast, where we met up with the rest of our friends. It was then, that Ginny revealed to her mother that she and Neville were dating, which prompted loads of gushing and fussing over the incredibly embarrassed boy as the rest of us laughed and watched on sympathetically. I glanced over at the Ravenclaw Table and smiled encouragingly at Fleur, before my eyes moved down the Table to where I saw Luna and Terry seated together, looking calm and content. So much had changed this year…

Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, as always, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and from where I was sitting, her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her, and so I figured something else had happened between them.

There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was obviously starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. "Harry," I said softly, "please eat something. You need energy, and I don't want you to pass out or something."

Harry sighed and summoned a smile as I slid my hand in his beneath the Table. He began to nibble his food, and seeing this, the entire Gryffindor Table made an effort to cheer him up. Fred and George even set off fireworks above our Table, which attracted loads of attention, but it seemed it had worked its magic. Harry had been so distracted and cheerful, that he didn't even notice that he'd finished his plate.

As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell. "Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him, making the loudest noise in the Great Hall as they cheered on their champion. The Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck, and I stood up as well, pulling him into our usual good luck kiss. When we pulled apart, I felt an aching dread in my gut, though I didn't know why. I was reluctant to puncture Harry's cheerful mood, and so I mustered a small smile.

"Harry," I said, "you don't have to win, but you do have to return to me in one piece… one, living piece." He nodded seriously. "Alright then, I love you Harry, and just… be careful, remember everything I've ever taught you, make good use of it."

Harry leaned down and kissed me one last time. "I love you too, Gia." He murmured. "And I promise I'll come back to you."

I hurried over to the other three champions, giving them hugs and wishing them luck. I stared up at Cedric's nervous but easy going face. "You'd better come back too, Ced. Or else," I warned.

He grinned and yanked one of my curls. "I promise, little sis." He said.

I watched the champions leave the Great Hall, and returned to the Gryffindor Table. I was strangely silent as I watched them all cheering and talking excitedly, especially as we were instructed to leave and go out to the pitch, and I felt almost detached. As we set up in the stands, the night's warm breeze fluttered around us.

We looked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of the champions: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. The air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

I stared intently at Professor McGonagall as she spoke, easily reading her lips. "We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?" The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers. I saw Hagrid lean down towards Harry and whisper to him, and I'd figured that it must be good luck, or something similar.

Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "_Sonorus_," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place with eighty-five points each— Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky, with me being one of the most enthusiastic, cheering for both my boyfriend and one of my pseudo-brothers.

"In second place with eighty points—Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place—Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbaton Academy!"

The Weasleys and Hermione applauded politely while I cheered for the French girl. I saw Harry look up at us, and we waved happily at us. He smiled and waved back, before we made eye contact. '_I love you,_' I mouthed. He grinned and mouthed the words back, warming my heart completely.

"So ... On my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three—two—one—" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. The second Harry took a step forward, I felt my eyes cloud over, and I automatically reached out and grabbed Hermione and Ron, pulling them with me.


	34. The Third Task

_**A/N: And finally, the chapter most of you have been waiting for…the Third Task. *dun dun duuuuuun* I'd just like to say that a review or two, to let me know how I'm doing, or with any questions or concerns, would be appreciated!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_"So ... On my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three—two—one—" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. The second Harry took a step forward, I felt my eyes cloud over, and I automatically reached out and grabbed Hermione and Ron, pulling them with me._

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

When I opened my eyes, Hermione and Ron's soft blue glowing bodies were standing on either side of me. Hermione was looking around, while Ron grinned. "Good thing this happened, or else it would've been bloody hard to see what was going on. Now we've got front seats!"

I shook my head as Harry entered the maze, and it was an odd feeling as he looked right past me. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment we entered the maze. We watched as Harry pulled out his wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind him.

We followed them as they hurried straight ahead, and after about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other. "See you," Harry said, and he took the left one, while Cedric took the right. I looked back at Cedric's retreating back, before Hermione, Ron, and I followed Harry.

We heard Bagman's whistle for the second time.

"Viktor's in the maze now," I muttered softly. Ron and Hermione jumped slightly. We'd all be strangely silent, as if giving Harry quiet so that he'd be able to concentrate, even though he couldn't hear us. After hearing the whistle, Harry sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.

Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. "All of the champions are inside now." I whispered.

"Fleur will have to hurry if she wants to catch up." Hermione said.

"But we're hoping for Harry to win right?" Ron pointed out. Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Of course Ronald, I was just saying—"

"Shh!" I said, pointing at Harry. "He keeps looking back behind him."

"He can't hear us, right?" Ron asked warily. I shook my head.

"No, but Harry has excellent senses, so maybe he can feel us watching him." But even as I said that, I felt that aching dread and unease return. Something didn't feel entirely right inside of that dark maze. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. Harry reached a second fork.

"Point Me," he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm. The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge.

"I'm glad I taught him that spell," Hermione muttered. I nodded in agreement.

That way, in the hedge's direction, was north. "He's got to go northwest for the center of the maze." I said. "He knows this pitch as well as anyone, so he'd know where the center was."

Hermione nodded. "The best he can do is to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible."

The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked. I didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving me. "Surely he should have met something by now?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"It's not like we want him to, though, so why worry about it?" Ron asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know… it feels like… the maze is luring him into a false sense of security."

Then we heard movement right behind us. Harry held out his wand, ready to attack, and I nodded in approval, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking. "What the hell happened to him?" I gasped.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed.

"They put those monstrosities in the maze?" Hermione nearly yelled.

"They're enormous—I only just got away!" Cedric panted. He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Obviously keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again, with us, his three unseen companions, following after him.

Then, as he turned a corner, we saw ... a bloody Dementor gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward Harry. "Are they bloody crazy?" Ron gasped, taking a step back. I could hear its rattling breath; I knew Harry felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but he would know what he had to do...

He seemed to focus for a second, raised his wand, and cried, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand and galloped toward the Dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes. I had never seen a Dementor stumble, and then I realized...

"It's not a real Dementor," I breathed.

"Hang on!" Harry shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus, "You're a boggart! _Riddikulus_!"

There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded from sight. But he moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his wand held high once more.

Left ... Right... Left again... Twice Harry found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it.

"This looks like some kind of enchantment." Hermione muttered, staring intently at it.

"_Reducto_!" Harry said. The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact.

"The Reductor Curse is for solid objects." Hermione whispered.

"What would happen if he walked through the mist?" Ron asked. Hermione and I shrugged.

"I don't know but he needs to make a decision and hurry." I said. He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence. All four us froze, and our heads snapped in the direction of the scream. I felt my skin pale.

"That was—"

"Fleur?" Harry yelled. There was silence. He stared all around him. My unease grew infinitely more, and as I looked at my two friends, I saw that they felt the same. Ron no longer looked cheerful at the thought of being right in front of the action.

Harry took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist. We watched, confused, as he paused, looking terrified and confused. He shut his eyes and pulled his right foot away from the grass as if he would meet resistance. Immediately, Harry fell forward onto his knees. He looked limp and shocked. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight.

"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked as we ran after him.

"It seemed as though he was caught in some kind of illusion." I guessed.

Harry paused at a junction of two paths and looked around, I supposed for some sign of Fleur. I knew that it had been Fleur, but there was no sign of red sparks—did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Harry took the right fork, and judging from his expression, with a feeling of increasing unease.

I was worried for Fleur, but at the same time, I couldn't help thinking one champion down... The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. I felt horrible for thinking that way, but Harry was my first priority no matter what. I could only hope that Fleur would be ok.

We met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice, Harry took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wand light waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

"Bloody hell!" Ron and I exclaimed. Hermione looked faint.

Cedric was right—it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Harry's wand, which he pointed at it. "_Stupefy_!"

The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Harry ducked just in time, but I could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him.

"_Impedimenta_!" Harry yelled.

The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over. I leaned forward, staring in horror at the scene before me but being useless to stop it.

"_IMPEDIMENTA_!" The skrewt was inches from him when it froze—he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction—the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.

As we shakily ran after Harry, I almost breathed a sigh of relief, but something stopped me. It was that dread and unease again. Harry took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop. As I listened to his heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest.

We had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when we heard something in the path running parallel to our own that made us stop dead. "What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

And then we heard Viktor's voice. "_Crucio_!" The air was suddenly full of Cedric's agonizing screams.

I was stunned. "Cedric!" I shouted.

I took off running at the same time Harry did, looking for a way to get onto Cedric's path. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes. Testing the hedge, I found that I could walk through it, and pulled Hermione and Ron with me. Looking to my right, I froze as I saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Viktor standing over him.

"What the hell is he playing at?" Ron yelled, pale-faced.

Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Viktor just as Viktor looked up. "Look at his eyes," I gasped, "He's under the Imperius!"

Viktor turned and began to run. "_Stupefy_!" Harry yelled. The spell hit Viktor in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, face down in the grass. Harry dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face. Hermione, Ron, and I watched on in horrified surprise.

"Are you all right?" Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm.

"Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah... I don't believe it... He crept up behind me... I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me..." Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Viktor; we all did.

"I can't believe this... I thought he was all right… Gia trusted him." Harry said, staring at Viktor.

"So did I," said Cedric.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What d'you think she'll do when she finds out?" he asked, frustrated. Cedric shrugged.

"She'll probably kill him." He said, and then he looked at Harry.

"He couldn't control himself," I muttered, partially to assure myself. "But then… who else is in the maze, throwing around Unforgivables?" Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and then me, both pale-faced. They had no more clue than I did.

"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Harry.

"Yeah," said Cedric. "You don't think Viktor got her too?"

"I don't know," said Harry slowly.

"Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered.

"No," said Harry. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him... Otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."

"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Viktor, marking the spot where he lay. Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.

"Well... I s'pose we'd better go on..." Cedric said after a sigh.

Harry nodded. "Good luck, Cedric. Oh, and thanks for the warning about those skrewts… bloody vicious…" Cedric summoned a ghost of a smile.

"No problem Harry, just… be careful, alright? You know Gia would kill me if something happened to you." He said.

"And vice versa, so take care." Harry countered.

I rolled my eyes. How could they be scared of _me_ at a time like this?

But they nodded, they shook hands, and the two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and Cedric right. The other two and I, of course, followed after Harry again. Cedric's footsteps soon died away. Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. Though he looked more determined than ever, I could tell that he was still shocked and pondering over what he'd just seen. He knew that the use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban; that was what Moody had told us.

"Surely Viktor doesn't want to win that badly…" Harry muttered as he sped up.

Every so often we hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made me feel sure we were getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as Harry strode down a long, straight path, we saw movement once again, and his beam of wand light hit an extraordinary creature, one which I had only seen in picture form, in my textbooks.

It was a sphinx.

It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. "Don't attack her, Harry." Hermione whispered.

She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice. "You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."

"So... So will you move, please?" said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"No," she said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess—I let you pass. Answer wrongly—I attack. Remain silent—I will let you walk away from me unscathed."

"Okay," he said. "Can I hear the riddle?"

The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited: _"First, think of the person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, the middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together, and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"_

Harry gaped at her.

"Could I have it again... More slowly?" he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Harry asked. She merely smiled her mysterious smile.

I glanced at Hermione, and saw her focusing, obviously trying to figure out the poem. Ron looked stumped and shook his head, apparently giving it up as a bad job. "Hmm," I pondered, "a person who lives in disguise, deals in secrets, and tells only lies. Well, obviously that's a spy."

Hermione nodded. "That's what I thought as well. But the second part doesn't make much sense."

Thinking, I conjured bright white words as I had done underwater to communicate with Viktor, and it showed the poem. I reread the second part several times before I thought I understood. I clapped. "I've got it!"

"Well, what is it?" said Hermione earnestly.

"This part was trickier because when people think about riddles, they often over-think them, believing them to have hidden meanings. But this part is actually quite literal. The last letter in the word mend is _d_; the middle letters of the word middle is also _d_; and finally, the ending letter of the word end is _d_. So, if you put it together, it's _spyd_…" Hermione's eyes lit up and I turned to Ron.

"Ron, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?" I asked sweetly.

"A spider," he said immediately. It took a second, but his eyes widened. "Ooh…"

We turned to Harry as he began to pace, and apparently work out the clues himself. "A person in disguise," Harry muttered, staring at the sphinx, "who lies... Err ... That'd be a—an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A—a spy? I'll come back to that... Could you give me the next clue again, please?"

She repeated the next lines of the poem.

"_'The last thing to mend,'_" Harry repeated. "Err... No idea... _'middle of middle'_... Could I have the last bit again?"

She gave him the last four lines.

"_'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word, '_" said Harry. "Err... That'd be... Err... Hang on—'err'! Err's a sound!"

The sphinx smiled at him.

"Spy... Err... Spy... Err... " said Harry, pacing up and down. "A creature I wouldn't want to kiss... A spider!" I jumped and cheered as Harry finally got it.

The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass. "Thanks!" said Harry, and, clearly amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He had to be close now, he had to be... His wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance... Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point Me!" he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead.

The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away.

Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of Harry. Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup. Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs—

Then we saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with our own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it—

"Cedric!" Harry bellowed. "On your left!"

Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the pat hand began to bear down upon Cedric.

"Was that riddle a bloody prophecy or something?" Ron exclaimed as we started.

"Dammit!" I shouted as we ran forward, instinctively staying out of the way.

"_Stupefy_!" Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead. "_Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!_" But it was no use—the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him.

He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment, I could see his eyes watering in pain. We could hear Cedric yelling "_Stupefy_!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry's—Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted "_Expelliarmus_!"

It worked—the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Harry growled in pain and frustration and pointed his wand up at the spider. "_Magna Tonitrus!"_ he roared. Instantly, a large bolt of pure white lightning shot from Harry's wand. Upon impact with the spider, it exploded, rocking the very earth, and spewing spider parts and guts everywhere.

I was so incredibly proud at that moment that Harry had taken something that I'd taught him, and used it in real life. As he ignored Cedric's stunned expression, he used a healing spell that I'd also taught him to heal his leg. He tested it out until he was sure that he was fine. He left all of the cuts and such for now, as we all looked around at the varying sized chunks of spider. "I wonder what everyone watching made of that explosion." I said.

I wrinkled my nose as we noticed some sort of gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on Harry's dirty and torn robes. Sighing, he slipped out of it, and tossed it aside. Luckily, he'd been wearing his uniform underneath. Taking a second to roll up the sleeves of his white button-up shirt, he caught his breath and looked at a still amazed Cedric. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah…what _was_ that? It was bloody brilliant!" Cedric said, eyeing the bits and pieces of the spider.

Harry shrugged vaguely. "Just a spell I picked up. " He looked around. Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him.

"Take it, then," Harry said to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there."

Hermione, Ron, and my jaw dropped completely.

"He's just going to give it up, then?" Ron asked, disbelieving. Hermione and I stared.

But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. We saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, who was now mending the tears in his pants. Cedric took a deep breath.

"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."

"That's not how it's supposed to work," Harry said. "The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. If that bloody spider hadn't shown up, you'd have won already."

"Bloody noble git," I muttered fondly, gazing at my boyfriend. Hermione nodded.

"He's giving it all up." Ron repeated numbly.

Cedric took a few paces nearer to a particularly large chunk of spider, away from the cup, shaking his head. "No," he said.

"Stop being noble," said Harry irritably. I snorted. "Just take it, then we can get out of here."

"You told me about the dragons," Cedric said. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."

"I had help on that too," Harry snapped. "You helped me with the egg—we're square."

"I had help on the egg in the first place," said Cedric.

"We're still square," said Harry, testing his leg again.

"You should've got more points on the second task," said Cedric mulishly. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."

"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Harry bitterly. "Just take the cup!"

"No," said Cedric. He stepped over the spider's disjointed legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries.

"Go on," Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided. Harry looked from Cedric to the cup.

Ron groaned. "I don't even care who wins now, will one of those idiots just grab the cup so this bloody tournament can end!"

"Both of us," Harry said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. "You—you sure?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… We've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together." For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin.

"You're on," he said.

"Oh Harry," Hermione hummed, smiling softly. I nodded, feeling the same way. They, Harry and Cedric, were both good people. Both boys walked forward to the plinth where the cup sat. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles. "On three, right?" said Harry.

By chance, I glanced at the cup more closely, and noticed a familiar blue hue around its natural glow. "One—" For a second, I couldn't remember what the blue glow meant. "Two—" And then I knew, and my blood turned cold.

"Harry, wait!" I screamed, running forward in, it seemed, slow motion.

"Three!" He and Cedric both grasped a handle, and I watched them disappear in the familiar swirling light of a portkey.


	35. Loss of Safety, Life, and Sanity

_Previous Chapter:_

_By chance, I glanced at the cup more closely, and noticed a familiar blue hue around its natural glow. "One—" For a second, I couldn't remember what the blue glow meant. "Two—" And then I knew, and my blood turned cold._

"_Harry, wait!" I screamed, running forward in, it seemed, slow motion._

"_Three!"__He and Cedric both grasped a handle, and I watched them disappear in the familiar swirling light of a portkey._

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

It seemed as though my connection with Harry was cut off as he disappeared with the portkey. As soon as he and Cedric disappeared, Hermione, Ron, and I were thrown roughly back into our seats in the stands. Rubbing the back of my head, where it had connected with Ginny's knee (she was sitting behind me), I looked around. It appeared that no one had noticed us zoning out, but there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on with the group of patrolling Professors, the judges, and Dumbledore. Standing up, I leapt over people in my haste to get down there. Judging from the bumping and exclaims behind me, Hermione and Ron were following.

When I got to the stairs, I flew down them at least four at a time, and sprinted across the unused part of the pitch. "Professor, Professor!" I screamed, just stopping myself from colliding with Dumbledore.

He looked distracted as he peered down at my panicked expression. "I'm sorry Miss Grey, but we're dealing with—"

"Professor, the Cup was a portkey!" I hissed, so that only he could hear. "Harry and Cedric grabbed it at the same time, and they both disappeared. Professor, you have to –"

"Please," Dumbledore said sharply, "take a breath and calm down."

My voice had been getting almost hysterical and I was talking fast. Taking a breath, I repeated my words. "I guess that explains why my wards around the maze were breached. Tell me dear, how'd you know that?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's not important," I insisted, dodging the inquiry, "we need to find them! Do you know where the portkey was headed?"

Dumbledore shook his head gravely. "I'm sorry to say I don't." I looked around his body and saw Viktor being eyed with disgusted suspicion, while Fleur was laying on a floating stretcher, being force-fed a series of potions.

"Professor, Viktor was under the Imperius Curse, he didn't mean to hurt them." I said seriously. Dumbledore peered seriously at me.

"I shall inquire as to how you know that at a later time, but you are right, finding Harry and Mr. Diggory is our first priority." He said. As Hermione and Ron ran over to me, wide-eyed and pale, I collapsed, my eyes clouding over once more. The last thing I heard was Hermione screaming my name.

When I opened my eyes, I seemed to drop to the ground from a foot high. Instinctively bending my knees, I landed easily and quickly took in my surroundings. I immediately spotted Harry pulling Cedric up from the ground, the Cup a few feet from them. "Where are we?" Harry said. Cedric shook his head.

I looked around, and knew that they had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously traveled miles—perhaps hundreds of miles—for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. We were standing, instead, in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to our right. A hill rose above us to our left. I could make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside, and I froze.

That was the house from Harry's vision.

I looked at him quickly, but he didn't seem to recognize it. I suppose that it was too dark and far away for his human eyes to really see it, but I did, and my initial dread increased tenfold. This wasn't right.

Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Harry. "Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked.

"Nope," said Harry. He was looking around the graveyard. It was completely silent and incredibly eerie. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"

"I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"

"Yeah," said Harry. They pulled out their wands. Harry kept looking around him. I knew he felt as though he were being watched because, even as I was in a vision, I felt it myself.

"Someone's coming," he said suddenly. Watching tensely through the darkness, I watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward the boys between the graves. Harry clearly couldn't make out a face, neither could I, and so I figured they had some sort of concealment charm over their features, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, we could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face.

And—several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time—I saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby... It could've been a bundle of robes, except that I could hear a very faint, very fluttery sort of heartbeat coming from the bundle. Harry lowered his wand slightly and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot him a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure.

It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, Harry and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another. At that moment, a very slight breeze blew around us, carrying to me the scent of the short figure. I hissed angrily. "Wormtail!" I spat, glaring at the murderous traitor. It seemed that he almost felt my gaze because he shifted slightly before stilling.

And then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded with pain. I knew because I felt an immense pain burst in my own forehead. I gasped in pain as Harry's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, dropping his wand. I fought to keep my own balance as my eyes watered in pain. I staggered closer to Harry just as a high, cold voice said, "Kill the spare."

Wormtail raised his wand and I could only watch in horror as he screamed, "_Avada Kedavra!"_ The green blast shot from his short wand and struck Cedric directly in his chest. It seemed to take days, weeks even, for the curse to close the distance, knock Cedric backwards, and end his life. As soon as he hit the ground, I felt my head snap back and I closed my eyes. I heard screaming, loud anguished, heartbroken screaming and I felt immense pain in my throat, but I couldn't connect the two. All I could see, all I could imagine, were the last moments of Cedric's life.

I couldn't believe it.

"Gia! Gia!" I heard a voice yelling, panicked. "Professor, what's happening? Gia!"

I felt myself being thrown forcefully back into my body, and I still heard screaming. "No! Cedric! No!" the voice was screaming. I felt something restraining my body and started thrashing, fighting to get free. "Cedric! Cedric!" I suddenly felt a sharp sting in my right cheek, and I opened my eyes and collapsed onto whoever had been holding me. I felt heart-wrenching sobs wrack my body as I was slowly guided to the warm grass.

_For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. And then, before Harry's mind had accepted what he was seeing, before he could feel anything but numb disbelief, he felt himself being pulled to his feet. The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone. Harry saw the name upon it flickering in the wand light before he was forced around and slammed against it. TOM RIDDLE_

"Gia! Gia!" I heard the same voice again, but there seemed to be a loud roaring in my head. I couldn't hear correctly. The world seemed like it was spinning, and suddenly I leaned forward, and relieved my stomach of the day's meals onto the grass. Taking a deep shuddering breath, I felt two hands grabbed my arms and I was forced to look into the serious face of Dumbledore. My eyes crossed…

_The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords around Harry, tying him from neck to ankles to the headstone. Harry could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood; he struggled, and the man hit him—hit him with a hand that had a finger missing. And Harry realized who was under the hood. It was Wormtail. "You!" he gasped. But Wormtail, who had finished conjuring the ropes, did not reply; he was busy checking the tightness of the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, rumbling over the knots. _

"Miss Grey, I implore you, tell me what happened!" he begged. I looked away, and in doing so, became aware of my surroundings. I was surrounded closely by only Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione, though Madam Pomfrey was hovering about ten feet away, looking anxious to check on me. Near the matron were the patrolling Professors, as well as the judges and the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was obviously being physically restrained by Bill and the twins, stopping her from running to me. The three schools were still seated in the stands, watching on in stunned, horrified, deathly silence. "Gia!" he said sharply.

_The bundle of robes that Harry had thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the grave. It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Harry watched it, and his scar seared with pain again... And he suddenly knew that he didn't want to see what was in those robes... He didn't want that bundle opened... He could hear noises at his feet. He looked down and saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, circling the headstone where he was tied. Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back within Harry's range of vision, and Harry saw him pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what seemed to be water—Harry could hear it slopping around—and it was larger than any cauldron Harry had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in._

I paused, completely dazed, and felt as though I were in a dream. Surely my pseudo-brother had not just been murdered? And my boyfriend…

At the thought of Harry, I felt a cold sort of shell come over me and I focused, staring Dumbledore icily in the face. "The portkey took them to a graveyard. It's a little ways away from that house in Harry's vision, the house that had," I lowered my voice, "Wormtail and Voldemort."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "What else?" he said seriously. But then I slipped out of reality again…

_The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face-no child alive ever had a face like that—flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes. The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and Harry saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron. For one moment, Harry saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks dancing on the surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Harry heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud._

My head spun as I came back, and I felt as if I were about to be sick again. I took a deep breath, and tried to ground myself long enough to speak.

"When they got there, Harry helped Cedric up, ad Cedric suggested they have their wands ready. They waited a few minutes as Wormtail, they didn't know it was him, approached carrying some sort of bundle. Well, I'd originally thought it was a baby. Anyway, Harry collapsed because his scar exploded with pain, and I felt it in my head too. And then, the baby thing told Wormtail to…to…" my icy tone broke, and I drew on my inner wolf's strength. She was as broken as I was, but she knew we had a job to do, and any sadness had to wait until afterwards.

And so I took a deep, steeling breath. "He told that bastard to _kill the spare_. Wormtail…he…he used the Killing Curse on Cedric. Cedric's dead." I gasped out, ruthlessly pushing down tears. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth and her eye glistened, while Ron looked as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Dumbledore…looked every bit his age in that moment. He asked me several more questions about the surroundings, and between each question, I got another half-glimpse of what was going with Harry.

"And Harry?" he asked.

Suddenly, I broke free from Dumbledore's grip and stood up. "We have to go save him!" I snapped, and then I stumbled as the pitch disappeared again…

_Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"_

_The surface of the grave at Harry's feet cracked. Horrified, Harry watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue. And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs. "Flesh—of the servant—w-willingly given—you will—revive-your master."_

_He stretched his right hand out in front of him—the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward. Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened—he closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Harry as though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron. _

I dropped to all fours and forced out every remaining drop of my stomach's content, and felt Hermione and Ron run up to me, even as I lost focus again…

_Harry couldn't stand to look... But the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Harry's closed eyelids... Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Not until Harry felt Wormtail's anguished breath on his face did he realize that Wormtail was right in front of him. "B-blood of the enemy... Forcibly taken... You will... Resurrect your foe."_

_Harry could do nothing to prevent it, he was tied too tightly... Squinting down, struggling hopelessly at the ropes binding him, he saw the shining silver dagger shaking in Wormtail's remaining hand. He felt its point penetrate the crook of his right arm and blood seeping down his exposed arm, starkly contrasting against his pale white skin. Wormtail, still panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it. He staggered back to the cauldron with Harry's blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing._

"Gia! Come on, please!" I heard Hermione pleading, tears in her voice. I tried, but I couldn't…

_The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened... 'Let it have drowned,' Harry thought, 'let it have gone wrong...' And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Harry, so that he couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor hanging in the air... 'It's gone wrong,' he thought... 'It's drowned... Please... Please let it be dead…'_

_But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron. "Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one-handed over his master's head. The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry... And Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snakes with slits for nostrils... Lord Voldemort had risen again._

I felt my blood suddenly turn as cold as ice, and the weak shaking in my body ceased. I stood up. "Are you going to go help them?" I said evenly, my voice held a dark undertone that clearly frightened Dumbledore.

"I'm afraid I don't know—"

"I've told you where they are!" I growled fiercely. I felt my fangs lengthen and my eyes glow. My entire body was vibrating at that moment, and I felt a shudder run through my body. The air around me seemed to heat up, but my hands felt cool and moist at the same time. My hair began to blow in a wind that suddenly picked around all of us, and I stormed back towards the maze, intent on my sudden plan.

"Going back into that maze won't bring them back, come back here at once!" Dumbledore said sternly. I glared back at him over my shoulder.

"Your way, waiting, doesn't work, so now it's time to do it my way." Just as I stepped into the maze, shielded from all except Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione, I turned and took off running down the long, straight path. Mid-run, I shifted smoothly into my wolf run. I barely noticed that everywhere I stepped, the grass beneath my feet became burned and smoked slightly. Just after I changed, I slipped into the shadows and reappeared behind some trees, just behind Cedric's body, which still lied in the same spot.

I forced myself to look away from him, and looked up at the current ongoings. I had obviously missed something in the precious minutes I had wasted trying to reason with Dumbledore and gather my mind.

"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. "Answer me! _Imperio_!"

I felt an odd, almost dreamlike sensation come over me as I crouched low behind those trees and bushes. And then, I heard Harry's voice echoing faintly in my head. '_Just answer no... Say no... Just answer no... I will not_, said a stronger voice, in the back of my head, '_I won't answer... Just answer no... I won't do it, I won't say it... Just answer no…'_

"I WON'T!"

And these words burst from Harry's mouth; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over me. I shook my head to clear away the sudden confusion, and looked intently up at Harry. I narrowed my eyes as I saw the slight tremors running through his body, and I could practically smell the pain in the air. I knew what curse had been used on him.

"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. "You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die... Perhaps another little dose of pain?"

Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready; with the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, he flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort''s father, and he heard it crack as the curse missed him. "We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer to harry, as the Death Eaters laughed.

I quickly scanned the row of cloaked and masked men, picking out scents I knew. One in particular…

"You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry... Come out and play, then ... It will be quick ... It might even be painless ... I would not know... I have never died..."

I readied myself, digging my large, sharp claws, ready to pounce at the right second, when Harry stood up, his green eyes blazing and determined. He gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort. Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, "_Magnus Tonitrus!_" Voldemort cried, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a huge, larger than ever before, pure white bolt blasted from Harry's—they met in midair—and suddenly Harry's wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it. A narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither white nor green, but bright, deep gold. Harry, following the beam with his astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating. I watched in stunned amazement.

Harry and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves... The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands—

The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now... "Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and I saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Harry's; Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken.

"Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.

And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air... It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound I recognized, though I had heard it only once before in his life: phoenix song. It was the sound of hope to many... The most beautiful and welcome thing I had ever heard in my life... I felt as though the song were inside me instead of just around me...

I watched as the threads began trembling, as well as both wands, and the arms of the two men that held those wands. I saw beads of light being pushed back and forth along the thread, seemingly by the sheer might of willpower, and I nearly cheered as the beads connected with Voldemort's wand. At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain... Then—Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock—a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished... The ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail... More shouts of pain...

And then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemorts wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke... It was a head... Now a chest and arms... The torso of Cedric Diggory… I nearly keeled over from shock, something Harry's expression seemed to convey, but he held tight to that odd connection, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost?) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort s wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel... And this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.

"Hold on, Harry," it said. Its voice was distant and echoing…

More screams of pain from the wand... And then something else emerged from its tip... The dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso ... An old man Harry had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done... And his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick...

"He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did... You fight him, boy..."

But already, yet another head was emerging ... And this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman's... Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep his wand still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring... The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes. "Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Harry—don't let go!"

She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it... And Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words we couldn't hear to Voldemort. And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemorts wand...

The smoky shadow of a tall man with untidy hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at him... And Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his father. I gave a wolfish gasp, luckily everyone was too preoccupied to notice. They were damn near twins…

"Your mother's coming..." he said quietly. "She wants to see you... It will be all right... Hold on..."

And she came... First her head, then her body... A young woman with long hair, the smoky, shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like her husband. She walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and she spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear, but somehow, I could...

"Harry, you're not alone…" she whispered. I saw the raw emotion in Harry's eyes as he stared at his dead mother.

"I know, m-mum," he said, his voice thick. "You're here now."

Lily smiled sadly and shook her head. "We're always with you Harry, but that's not what I mean. That wonderful girlfriend of yours is here, do you see her?" she nodded in my direction, and Harry followed her eyes. I gave a quick wolfy nod, and I saw Harry nearly weep with love and relief.

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments... But we will give you time... Gia will know what to do… You must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts... Do you understand, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers.

"Do you understand, Gia?" Lily whispered to her son. I nodded from where I was, slightly dazed.

"Harry..." whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents..."

"I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.

"We love you Harry," whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run..."

"One day Harry…" Lily whispered, "one day, you'll speak to us… Do it now…"

"NOW!" Harry yelled.

He pulled his wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died—but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear—they were closing in upon Voldemort, blocking his view. In the same millisecond that Harry yelled, I leapt at least twenty feet over the bushes and out into the circle of people, clear above the heads of several stunned Death Eaters.

Mid-air, I clamped my sharp teeth down on Voldemort's shoulder, and he screamed in pain and surprise. I used my immense momentum to somersault forward. And as I came out of the mid-air flip, I slammed him onto his back, and spun around before he or the Death Eaters could react. Harry was running towards the portkey, and I charged straight through the line of Death Eaters, viciously ripping off the arm of one of them as I ran forward, going so fast I became a shadow. I lifted Harry up onto my back with a quick movement and he gripped my fur tightly in one hand. I grabbed Cedric's robes in my mouth as Harry leaned down and scooped up the portkey.

We all disappeared in a flash of swirling light.


	36. The Danger's Just Begun

_Previous Chapter:_

_Mid-air, I clamped my sharp teeth down on Voldemort's shoulder, and he screamed in pain and surprise. I used my immense momentum to somersault forward. And as I came out of the mid-air flip, I slammed him onto his back, and spun around before he or the Death Eaters could react. Harry was running towards the portkey, and I charged straight through the line of Death Eaters, viciously ripping off the arm of one of them as I ran forward, going so fast I became a shadow. I lifted Harry up onto my back with a quick movement and he gripped my fur tightly in one hand. I grabbed Cedric's robes in my mouth as Harry leaned down and scooped up the portkey._

_We all disappeared in a flash of swirling light._

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

In the midst of the sudden flash of light from the portkey, I shifted back into my human form and we collapsed to the ground. I was forced into the grass by the weight of Harry's body, and even as he groaned and rolled off of me, we didn't get up, and I didn't open my eyes. A torrent of sound deafened and confused me; there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams... But I remained where I was. I was disoriented, confused, relieved, and horribly stricken with grief, all at the same time. I would've been content to simply lie there for the rest of my life, but a pair of hands turned me over.

"Gia!"

It was Professor McGonagall.

I heard something similar happening to Harry, less than a foot away from me. Reluctantly I opened my eyes, and looked past McGonagall's concerned face at the starry sky, somehow knowing that Cedric was up there. In my peripheral, I saw Dumbledore crouched over Harry. The dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around us, pushing nearer, and I pulled on whatever strength I had left and forced myself to my hands and knees. Ignoring McGonagall's words for me to lie down, I crawled over to Harry and collapsed on his chest protectively.

We had come back to the edge of the maze. I could see the stands rising above us, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above. Harry let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus.

"He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back, Voldemort."

"What's going on? What's happened?" The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over us; it looked white, appalled. "My God—Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore—he's dead!"

The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on us gasped it to those around them... And then others shouted it—screeched it—into the night—

"He's dead!"

"He's dead!"

"Cedric Diggory! Dead!"

"Harry, let go of him," we heard Fudge's voice say. I knew Harry would put up a fight, and I slowly slid my hands to his.

"Please Harry," I begged hoarsely, "let him go. He's not there anymore."

Harry peered tiredly at me, and I could see the raw emotion still swimming in his slightly clouded eyes. I looked up to the sky. "He's there Harry, let him go."

Harry finally let go of Cedric's body and his arms came tightly around me, and mine around him. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…" Harry muttered to Dumbledore, whose eyes had misted. The old man nodded seriously. I vaguely remember being pulled to my feet, as Harry and I supported each other. The next ten minutes or so were a blur of voices and screaming. The next thing I was truly aware of, was someone handing me something. The scent told me that it was Pepper-Up Potion. I downed it, and the coughing on my left told me that Harry was there, and he drank it too.

Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself... He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry's face. "Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"

"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me," said Harry. I had the most awful taste in my mouth, and I didn't feel entirely grounded, but it was an immense improvement from before.

I could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field. "What did the Dark Lord take from you?" said Moody. I glanced sharply at Moody from the corner of my eye. He didn't notice. I narrowed my eyes. Only Death Eaters and people on the Dark Side called Voldemort the Dark Lord.

"Blood," said Harry, raising his arm. The crook of his arm was still raw and bleeding where Wormtail had cut him. Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss. And I absently cast a strong healing charm on Harry. His wound immediately began to scab and then peel. Within a few minutes, it would be a scar.

"And the Death Eaters? They returned?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Loads of them..."

"How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?" I gripped my hands on the edge of the chair I was seated in, my wand clenched in my right hand. This didn't feel right. The questions Moody was asking weren't right.

"There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here—they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end—"

Harry tried to get up, but Moody pushed him back down. "I know who the Death Eater is," he said quietly.

"Who is it? Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff?" said Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them... But I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."

"Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then—he didn't put my name in the goblet?"

We'd already gone over that, but I supposed Harry needed certainty.

"No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that."

I had frozen unnoticeably. My suspicion toward Moody this year had been warranted, it seemed. But now, something told me that this wasn't even Moody. As I had every time I'd been in Moody's office, I heard that faint, fluttery heartbeat coming from his trunk. If it was a pet, he'd been giving it the bare minimum to survive. I kept one ear on the two men beside me as my mind raced with plans. With the more information that Moody gave away, the more I had to change my plans. I pretended to be shocked as Moody magically tied me to my chair.

"What the hell, Professor?" I growled, struggling. "This had better not be another one of your stupid training methods!" Harry looked at me as though I were rather dim, but I could tell he knew I was acting. His eyes…they were so lost and confused, so hurt by everything.

Moody ignored me, his wand still pointed at Harry's heart. Honestly, I could escape these ropes incredibly easy. I listened as Moody and Harry got into some sort of argument, and as Moody raised his voice angrily, I focused on that odd power that had been popping up all year. Immediately, the rope went up in flames that didn't affect me and quickly crumbled into ash. In the same second, I stood and stepped between Moody and Harry, my wand pressed into his throat.

"Give me your wand." I hissed, allowing my fangs to lengthen again. The Moody-Imposter sneered.

"Listen, you little mutt—"

I snarled at the insult and overpowered a banishing charm, sending the imposter flying backwards. He crashed harshly into a wooden table, and it splintered all around him. I approached him angrily just as the door to the office was blasted off its hinges. On edge, I spun and had a curse on my lips until I saw that it was Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched.

At that moment, I fully understood why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible I or Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.

The three professors stepped into the room. "Come on Potter, Grey," Professor McGonagall said. The twitching of her thin lips made it obvious that she was holding back tears.

I took a step back, away from her. "No," I said sharply. All four people, not counting fake-Moody, stared at me. "We deserve to know the truth about what happened, about why we were forced to do your jobs for you!" I said harshly. Both McGonagall and Dumbledore flinched, but Snape simple eyes me with something in his eyes that I couldn't identify.

"It—Moody—" Harry stuttered.

"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew—and I followed." Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape. "Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both turned to leave the office. I understood the command about the dog, but Winky…

"Wait," I said.

"Yes, Miss Grey?" Dumbledore said calmly.

"I employed Winky months ago, do you want me to call her?" I asked.

"In a moment dear, Severus, simply go retrieve the Truth Potion." Dumbledore said. I thought about why Dumbledore would need Winky, and then I stared at Moody.

"Professor, may I see his hip flask for a moment?" I asked. Dumbledore peered at me, but handed me the flask. Flipping the top back, I took a sniff and held it away, wrinkling my nose. "Yepp, that's definitely Polyjuice." My eyes widened. "Professor, you have to open his trunk!"

"Why?" he asked seriously.

"All year, I've been hearing this odd, faint fluttery sort of heartbeat coming from it. If this Moody is a Polyjuiced imposter, than the real Moody might be in that trunk!" I said.

Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneak-o-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. I wasn't too amazed as my trunk was almost exactly the same, except mine had a ton of protection spells and curses on it.

Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazement. We were looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing. "Sweet Merlin," I breathed, "that is sick."

Harry stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office. I saw Dumbledore gather his robes, and stopped him. "I don't think you're frail by any means sir, but I'm a bit more lithe and agile. I'll do it."

"By all means, Miss Grey." Dumbledore said.

Rather gracefully, I simply jumped over the side of the trunk and fell ten feet, landing on the balls of my feet. I kneeled down and studied the unhealthy man. "He's stunned—I can sense the strain on his mind, so he's been under the Imperius extensively—he's very weak." I called up. "Of course, they'd need to keep him alive though. He's freezing. Can one of you toss me a cloak or something?"

A moment later, Dumbledore dropped what I recognized as the Imposter-Moody's cloak. I cast a warming charm on it and wrapped the real Moody in it, tucking it around him. I conjured a fluffy pillow, and eased his head from the cold, hard floor onto it, before nimbly climbing out of the trunk. "I would've brought him up, but I don't know if I should move him or not." I said.

"A wise choice," Dumbledore commended.

Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor. "Polyjuice Potion, as Miss Grey said," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask—he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair..." Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done... On the hour... Every hour... We shall see."

Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry and I stared at him too. Minutes passed in silence... Then, before our very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction. I saw a man lying before me, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. I knew who he was, and my earlier guess had been correct.

We had seen him in Dumbledore's Pensieve, had watched him being led away from court by the dementors, trying to convince Mr. Crouch that he was innocent... But he was lined around the eyes now and looked much older... There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. "You may call Winky now, Miss Grey." Dumbledore stated.

"Winky!" I called.

The elf popped into the room and curtsied gracefully, before smiling up at me. "Mistress Gia is needing something?" she asked.

At that moment, Snape had returned with Professor McGonagall on his heels. "Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"

"Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, freezing and staring down at the man on the floor. Winky's smile faded as she looked around and her eyes landed on the unconscious form of her former master.

"Is—is Barty Crouch Jr. being dead, Mistress Gia?" she asked softly.

"He's only stunned, Winky." I said.

"Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum with which he had threatened Harry in class. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall amongst the table's splinters. "Out of curiosity, how did he get in this position?" Dumbledore asked.

"He tried to attack Harry—I didn't let him." I said simply.

Dumbledore nodded, while Professors McGonagall and Snape looked from me, to Harry, to the fake-Moody. Winky stayed firmly beside my right leg, watching the scene with almost detached interest.

Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Ennervate."

Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level. "Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly. The man's eyelids flickered.

"Yes," he muttered.

"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, and then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

I felt Winky trembling against my leg, and patted her head consolingly.

But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice. "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

The man's eyelids flickered.

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master... Of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior." Winky's trembling became harder.

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father to signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end."

"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know." Another flicker.

"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket." I shot Harry an exasperated looked, and he shrugged, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "

"I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."

"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky."

"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned. When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

Winky's entire body was shaking from head to toe, and I was hard pressed not to let her go home yet. "Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then... And then..." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me."

Harry and I shared a look.

"He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant—perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door." The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life.

Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak. "It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first—"

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.

"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore. "Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban."

"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I had monitoring and tracking wards placed all over the castle, grounds, and even the forest."

"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father." I felt Winky fall to her knees, but she refrained from making any sound. Her face was buried in her hands.

"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I was watching the wards. I sensed Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I sensed Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore that Snape had told me where to come."

I shook my head furiously. Why hadn't I sensed him?

"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the wards. When everyone was gone, I transfigured my father's body. He became a bone... I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."

There was complete silence now, except for Winky's muffled sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight..."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky shook and tried to suppress her sobs at my side.


	37. Truth From The Lies

_Previous Chapter:_

_"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky shook and tried to suppress her sobs at my side._

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

Everything after that became a blur again. It seemed as though my entire body was aching, and my mind still felt a bit cloudy. I somewhat remember what happened to Crouch. He was Kissed, and Dumbledore had been furious. Even through my haze, I could feel the magic radiating from the man. I remember Harry and I being forced up to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey fixed what I hadn't already. She hadn't been too happy when Harry and I refused to use separate beds, but she must've seen the desperation in our eyes because she finally allowed it.

Hermione and Ron had arrived and gently murmured what had happened after we were led away, but somehow I knew that the next Daily Prophet article would make it sound much worse. I slipped in and out of consciousness for a while, and I was awake enough to give Remus and Snuffles hollow smiles before sinking back into my own core. Since leaving Moody's office, I had been mentally holed up in my magical core with my inner wolf. She curled her giant body around mine and together, we mourned the loss of one of our pack, simultaneously swearing revenge on that sniveling bastard, Wormtail.

I was forcefully pulled out of my hole by Dumbledore and Fudge's argument about Voldemort. I was more than ready to simply sink again, but I groggily sat up, startling all in the room. "Miss Grey, I insist that you lie back down. You need to rest!" Madam Pomfrey insisted.

I vaguely waved my hand and clutched my head, trying to stop the spinning and pounding headache. As if sensing my condition, Madam Pomfrey quickly handed me a Headache Potion, which helped with both. "M-Minister Fudge," I said, pulling my cold mask firmly in place. I stood up slowly, making it seem as though I were giving Fudge time to gather himself, but I was actually making sure I didn't collapse again.

"Lady Grey, please tell me the Headmaster is mistaken!" Fudge pleaded, mopping sweat off his forehead with his lime green bowler hat.

"I'm afraid that that would be lying sir. I—I'd be willing to turn over my memories of tonight to the Auror's Office." I offered. Fudge blustered about lies and other nonsense.

"Memories can be tampered with!" he insisted hotly. I took two smooth step forwards, and it wasn't until I was nearly touching noses with Fudge did I realize that I'd had a growth spurt. Previously 4'11, I figured that I was at least 5'2 now. Batting the thought away, I gave the Minister my most even, hard stare.

"You would dare insinuate that the Head of the Grey family would lie, especially on a matter this important?" I said slowly. Everyone in the room knew that something had changed as Fudge became even more flustered.

"N-no L-Lady Grey, I w-would never." He stuttered.

"Good, because we both know how dangerous that would be for all involved. Now, you can either believe what we are telling you, which is the truth, that Voldemort—" several flinches, "has returned. You can prepare the Aurors, Unspeakables, and Hit Wizards to be able to fight the coming war, or… you could ignore it. You could lie to the public, lead them all into a false sense of security, and allow our world to be torn apart by a war we were unprepared to fight."

You could've heard a pin drop in the Hospital Wing after I gave the Minister for Magic alternatives. It seemed that no one so much as dared to breathe too loudly or at all. I felt them staring from me to Fudge, and back again. Dumbfounded at the turn of events and curious as to what's going to happen next. Looking in Fudge's eyes, I knew nothing had changed and I mentally shrugged. Whether he acknowledged it or not, I was not going to allow this war to destroy everything.

"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who…Well…" Fudge shot Harry a look and I suddenly understood.

"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry suddenly growled. Almost everyone else jumped, they hadn't known he was awake, but I had heard his breathing change from the usual slow, deeps breath of sleep. He tried to get up, and I hurried over to prop him up against the mountain of pillows behind him. He was still pale and clearly not himself, but the same could be said for me. Harry was still obviously exhausted, and like me, he was running on anger at the moment.

The cold glare Harry summoned for the Minister made me quite proud. It seemed he'd taken a leaf from my book after all these months. "I saw the Death Eaters. I can give you their names. Lucius Malfoy—"

Snape made a sudden movement, and my wand was in my hand and pointed at his heart in the same millisecond. He remained perfectly still, and looked wary at the undoubtedly raged look in my eye. All eyes in the ward watched us warily. "I respect you greatly Professor, but I no longer trust anyone with the safety of Harry. Any sudden movements towards him from _anybody_ will be seen as a threat." I said loud and clearly, making everyone in the room, including Dumbledore and Fudge understood.

Snape nodded curtly and I lowered my wand, still keeping it gripped in my hand. I saw the ghost of a smirk on Harry's face as he looked from Snape to me, but it disappeared to anger after what Fudge said next.

"Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family—donations to excellent causes—" I understood the underlying message in those words: Fudge was taking bribes from Malfoy Sr. No surprises there.

"Macnair!" Harry continued.

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Avery—Nott—Crabbe—Goyle—"

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore—the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too—his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them—the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"

"You had better be careful with how you speak of him, Minister." I said coldly. Fudge's mouth snapped shut.

"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpled. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors—"

"Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"

"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"

Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage. "The second step you must take—and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."

"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"

"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"

"You—you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants—people hate them, Dumbledore—end of my career—"

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood—"

I felt my headache returning. "That's enough!" I shouted. Dumbledore blinked and the air of power diminished slightly. His eyes weren't twinkling but they weren't blazing anymore either. "We are not here," I said, anger and frustration clearly in my voice, "to argue and shout, acting like a bunch of first years!"

I looked at the Headmaster. "Look at this man," I said, pointing to Fudge, "you already know, without a doubt, that he will ignore this very _real_ issue, the issue of war, until it comes waltzing on his doorstep!" I spun angrily and took a step toward Fudge. He matched it with a step backwards.

"And you," I practically snarled, "are behaving like a bigoted, ignorant, coward!" There were many gasps in the room, but somehow, I knew that Harry was mentally cheering me on. Fudge seemed to deflate and expand with fear and angry. "You are going to do nothing, no matter what any of us say. Merlin himself could come down here and tell you the truth and you still wouldn't believe it!" I lowered my voice to a normal tone that still carried loudly around the silent room.

"You would willingly put our entire world in danger to keep your image, but— how do you think the public will feel when they find out that you led them into a false sense of security, and allowed them to remain ignorant in the shadow of war?" I glared at the Minister in disgust. "Minister, you had better plan your next moves carefully, because I swear by Merlin, that if you make the wrong one, you will no longer be in office!"

Fudge seemed to angry and shocked to speak, and settled for storming out of the Hospital Wing. On his way past Harry's bed, he paused and dropped a sack of gold coins on the foot of his bed. "The winning for our… champion." He sneered before leaving in an angry blaze, slamming the doors behind him.

I whirled around and faced the people in the room. "Listen, you all know that Fudge will do anything in his power to either sweep this under the rug, or make us all out to be liars. I have a plan, and I have no doubt that most, if not all of you will be receiving letters from me over the summer." I ran my hand through my now wild, disheveled hair and blew out a breath.

"Now more than ever we have to stick together," I said, looking at each and every one of them. "Now is not the time for House rivalries, old suspicions, betrayal, or half-truths and outright lies. Now is not the time for coddling and trying to shield us. There is no shielding us from the war that we all know is coming. Without a doubt in my mind, I know that Voldemort," a few flinches, "will come for my Harry. I will gladly die to protect him from anyone, even that evil bastard!"

I took a deep breath. "Voldemort will come for us, and trying to hide us away because you all think we're children is not going to help at all. I'm not saying we need to be trained as weapons or soldiers, but we need to learn how to defend ourselves."

"Fudge— Fudge is not a threat at the moment, and I _will_ see a new, better Minister in office, but until then, we need to prepare for the worst, because that is what's surely coming to us. We _have _to work together now, for the sake of those we love and care about, and the world we don't want destroyed by this war." I finished.

I saw the strong determination in Ron and Hermione's eyes, and the blazing love in Harry's, and I knew that if nothing else, those three would have my back. Looking at Dumbledore, I saw that he once again, looked every bit his age. I knew that he would be a great and powerful ally, if he'd start telling the whole truth, but the honest fact is that he was getting on in his age, and war was no place for the old man.

"As much as I fear admitting this," Dumbledore said softly, "Miss Grey is right. There is work to be done. Molly... Am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry—"

"Leave it to me," said Bill. He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, pulled me into a quick hug, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode quickly from the room. I was about to offer my aid, but something told me to save it until Dumbledore and I could speak privately.

After tactfully dismissing McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore had Sirius reveal himself to Snape, who immediately drew his wand. I calmly stepped between then, and pushed Snape's wand out of my face. "We are on the same side now. There is NO place for childish rivalries in war." I said.

"What is he doing here?" Snape hissed.

"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other." Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing. "I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any us."

Very slowly—but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill—Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly. "That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, looking between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher—the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."

"But—" said Harry.

"It'll be fine Harry," I said quickly, shooting him a look. "Sirius will want to do his part in helping prepare. We'll see him soon enough."

"She's right Harry," Sirius said, discreetly giving Harry a look as well. He pulled Harry and I into hugs, before he transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone. "Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready... If you are prepared ..."

"I am," said Snape. He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely. I wondered at the vague assignment before I remembered what Dumbledore had said at Karkaroff's trial.

"Wait," I said, biting my lip. "Are… are you sure he has to do this?"

Dumbledore and Snape gave me piercing looks before the former sighed. "I would never ask Severus to do something like it, if it weren't crucial to the war effort."

I tentatively stepped forward, and hesitantly put my hand on Snape's shoulder. He seemed more shocked than anyone else in the room, especially as I squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "Just—just be careful Professor. You might not be the nicest Professor around, but I doubt we could find one as knowledgeable as you. You…you're needed for more than just this." I said. Though he remained stoic, I could tell that Snape deeply appreciated everything I'd just said.

He simply nodded curtly. "Good luck," Dumbledore and I said in unison. Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius and it was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.

"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry, Gia—take the rest of your potions, and get plenty of rest. I will see all of you later."

"Professor?" I said softly. Dumbledore peered sadly down at me, perhaps thinking about the task ahead. "Can you—" I blew out a shaky breath, "can you tell the Diggorys…Harry and I, we…" I felt the tears and rage coming again, "we tried to…save—"

"I will certainly pass on the message, Miss Grey." Dumbledore said kindly. He gently patted my shoulder, and swept out of the room. It seemed that Dumbledore's presence had forced me to appear and remain, because as soon as the door closed behind him, my strength disappeared, and my knees buckled. Tears were already splashing onto my clothes by the time Ron and Hermione hurried over to me, and eased me back into bed with Harry.

Mrs. Weasley, trying to discreetly wipe her eyes, said she'd return to check on us in a little while, leaving the trio and me together. I buried my face into Harry's neck, and as the tears came fast, I felt another wetness seeping into my hair, and tightened my arms around Harry as he did the same for me. We shifted and I heard a huge clinking crash hit the floor.

"Err Harry," Ron asked softly, "what do you want us to do with your winnings?"

"I don't want that gold," said Harry in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."

"It wasn't your fault. Harry," Hermione whispered.

"I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry.

"Harry," I said in a choked, watery whisper. Even the effort to speak brought more tears to my eyes, "C-Cedric told you to take the cup too. What if you had listened to him and gotten hurt or killed? Would you have blamed him?"

"No," He gasped out, and I could hear the pain in his voice.

"You know," I whispered, "as well I do that Cedric wouldn't want us to feel guilty over his death. We gave him his final wish; we got his body back to his parents…"

My body shook as the sobs I had been furiously holding back overwhelmed me. Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep in the chairs on one side of our bed, leaning on each other for support. I felt Harry's own pain and misery rising and mixing with mine as we cried ourselves to sleep. As I slept, images of the Third Task rapidly flashed through my mind, pausing only long enough to taunt me before being replaced by another gruesome image. It was as I watched Cedric being murdered over and over again, that I bolted up in the middle of the night. I was sweating and shakily pushed sweat-plastered curls from my face as I got out of the Hospital Wing bed.

I had forced Harry to take Dreamless Sleep over an hour ago because he'd woken to his own nightmares, and I looked sadly at his still-troubled face. The ward was empty except for the four of us, and I supposed that Madam Pomfrey was asleep in her private quarters. The room was dark, only lit by the luminescent moonlight that shone through one of the many large windows. Feeling oddly compelled, I walked over to the largest window away from my friends and curled up on the padded sill. It was a full moon that night, and I felt powerful, I felt the magic and strength crackling beneath my skin. I felt better as the moonlight washed over me, and tilting my head back, I inhaled deeply and let out all of my misery and grief.

It came out as a long, haunting completely wolfish howl that echoed painfully through the night and out onto the grounds. As my own howl faded minutes later, an entire chorus of understanding howls reverberated from the Forbidden Forest, as the werewolves of the night shared in my misery. They hadn't known Cedric, but all of them had lost pack at some point and they understood the pain I felt. And as the night wore on, we howled our misery through the grounds of Hogwarts. Around four in the morning, I felt much more cleansed but I refused to move from beneath the moonlight.

My eyes were drifting shut when I felt strong arms slide beneath me, lift me up, and set me down again. Harry had climbed onto the windowsill with me and settled me in his lap. As I cuddled into him, he tucked the blanket he had brought over around us. "…such a beautiful and haunting sound…" Harry murmured.

Tilting my head up, I stared at his moon-washed features and turned back towards the window. Inhaling again, I let out another wolfish howl, this one still sad but slightly hopeful. It was met with another chorus of howls from the forest's werewolves. Harry hummed behind me, and I felt the vibration go through his chest. He tightened his arms around me, and we finally fell into peaceful sleep beneath the moon's loving embrace.

The next morning, I awoke in the warm embrace of Harry as the morning's sunlight beamed down on us. I almost thought Harry was asleep until I felt the normal rate of his breathing. He was very much awake. "Good morning love," I whispered, unwilling to break the morning's peace.

"Good morning," Harry whispered back.

Looking over, I saw that Ron and Hermione had crawled into one of the unoccupied beds in the middle of the night, and were holding each other tightly, perhaps more affected by recent events than I had originally thought. Harry and I remained on that windowsill for most of the morning, even eating a small breakfast that one of the school's house-elves brought to us. It was around nine that Dumbledore quietly entered the Hospital Wing. When he looked at us, I saw the sad look in his eye and knew that it was genuine. Dumbledore had faults, like the rest of us, his major fault being his drive to shield us from the world, even if it meant giving us half-truths, but I knew that he wasn't a bad man. He truly cared about all of Hogwart's inhabitants.

He didn't seem surprised that we were awake and he didn't say anything about Ron and Hermione, though a ghost of a smile flitted over his face before disappearing. "Good morning Professor," Harry and I murmured.

"Good morning Harry, Gia," he said. He peered at us before sighing. "I've come bearing the request from the Diggorys that you both meet with them as soon as possible."

I saw Harry pale beside me, and I sighed. "Are they here, now?" I asked. Dumbledore nodded.

"They stayed the night in one of our spare quarters." He said softly.

"We owe them that much," I said sadly, "at least an explanation… Can you give us an hour, Professor? I'd like to shower and change before meeting with the Diggorys."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, dear. When you are ready… report to the smaller conference room on the third floor. Do you know where it is?"

We nodded.

Dumbledore squeezed both of our shoulders encouragingly before walking towards the door. "Professor," I called. The old man stopped and turned to look at me. "Thank you…for believing us about—about everything." I said. He simply nodded and left.

Very reluctantly, I stood up and stretched before gently pulling Harry to his feet. I looked at Ron and Hermione, and decided to wake them. As Hermione's brown eyes opened slowly, she blinked at me. "We…the Diggorys want to meet with Harry and me, so we're going up to East Tower to shower and stuff. I figured you two would want to be in your own bed." I explained.

Hermione, noticing her predicament, blushed and nodded. "I'll get Ron up, and we'll be up in a few." She whispered.

The walk to East Tower was an alarmingly short one, and soon enough, we found ourselves standing in our bathroom. Undressing, Harry and I climbed into the steamy shower stall. Immediately, I rested my head on Harry's chest and we held each other as the hot water cascaded on us. We stayed like that for several minutes before washing and leaving. Inside our closet, I decided that it would be only right to wear the traditional black color used for mourning.

I pulled on a simple black dress and my black dragon-hide boots, before slipping a plain black robe over it, leaving it open in the front. Harry put on slacks, a dress shirt, and a robe, all black of course. I felt him staring at me as I fixed his tie, and when I was done, I pulled my hair back in a ponytail. After making sure we had our wands, Harry and I left our rooms to find Ron and Hermione cuddled together, asleep, on one of the common room couches. We left them alone this time as we left East Tower, and we walk hand-in-hand in silence to the third floor.

Outside the conference room door, I heard crying coming from the room and I sighed. "Let's get this over with, Harry. I don't think I can take anymore sadness."

I slowly opened the door, and we walked into the room that held only a large table, some chairs, and a long table along the right wall that held food and pastries. I curtsied respectfully and Harry bowed as we entered. Mr. Diggory was the one sobbing, I saw, and it seemed as though Mrs. Diggory's grief was beyond tears. "Oh Gia," she whispered, "it's been so long. Please, come in and sit."

The following meeting had to be, perhaps, the most depressing moment of my life since my parents' deaths. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the meeting, but something that relieved both Harry and I was the fact that neither parent blamed us for what happened to Cedric. On the contrary, both of them thanked us for returning Cedric's body to them. After having the two swear a magic oath, we told them most of the whole story.

"It's what he asked us to do, Mr. and Mrs. Diggory. We simply gave him his final wish." I said softly.

"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos... He died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

When we got to our feet, she looked down at us and said, "You two look after yourselves, now. And stick together…"

Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table. "You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it—"

But she backed away from him. "Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't... You keep it." I knew why she wouldn't take the winnings. She didn't want a constant reminder of what this tournament had done to her son, had done to her family. Harry and I returned to the Hospital Wing afterwards, where Madam Pomfrey wanted us to stay one more night to observe us for lingering trauma. We tiredly agreed, and spent the rest of the day simply lying in each other's arms, staring off into space. Ron, Hermione, and even Luna visited frequently.

That night, Harry turned to me. "What did Mrs. Diggory mean when she said that it's been so long?" he asked. I sighed and tucked my head under his chin.

"Cedric and I use to play together when we were kids. That's why we seemed so close this year, why we called each other brother and sister. We practically grew up together. Cedric was the first person to make me smile after my parents died…"

We returned to East Tower the following evening, and Ron and Hermione told us that Dumbledore had spoken to the entire school at breakfast that morning. He had merely requested that they leave Harry and me alone, that nobody ask us questions or badger us to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, we noticed, were skirting us in the corridors, avoiding our eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as we passed. I guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous Harry was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. Those days particularly annoyed me, and I'd had to furiously clamp down on my rising temper a few times when I caught people carelessly pondering if Harry hadn't killed Cedric himself in order to win.

The moments I liked best were when the trio and I simply relaxed and talked about other things, or just sitting in silence as the boys played chess and Hermione and I read books. I frequently took Harry out to the pitch so that we could fly around for a while, and on some days, we were silently joined by Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. I had stopped pushing for training for a few days, but had eventually dragged them all up to the Room of Requirement, stating that wallowing around wouldn't accomplish anything. The motion proved helpful as we all furiously blasted apart waves and waves of practice dummies. It was almost therapeutic to blast them apart, because it seemed as though we all had a lot of steam to blow off. After that, we threw ourselves back into training, partly as a coping method, and partly because none of us wanted to be in a position like this again.

In those days, I exchanged many letters with various people and groups that I was well acquainted with, either through personal, business, or through my travels. I spoke to many higher-ups and Department Heads in the Ministry, they were all ready to see Fudge go. I scheduled a meeting over the summer with the goblins at Gringotts. And I especially made contact with as many werewolf clans as I was acquainted with. They respected my family for being what we were, and I even asked them to keep an open mind should a man named Remus Lupin approach them. I never once asked any of them to fight if the war should pick up. First, I wanted to feel them all out, and then I could settle for dissuading them from joining Voldemort.

"Mum wanted both of you to come to the Burrow for the summer." Ron said one day as we lounged in our common room. "She went to ask Dumbledore if the both of you could come straight there, but…but Dumbledore wants you back with the Dursleys."

I felt a brief spark of anger before crushing it. "He's not going back." I said finally.

As there was no longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, we had those lessons free. Most days, we spent those periods training more, but some days, we went down to see Hagrid. We used one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly. "Who's that?" called Hagrid, coming to the door.

He strode out to meet us, pulled Harry and me into a hug, ruffled Harry's hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh all. Good ter see yeh."

We saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when we entered Hagrid's cabin. "Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said. "She's jus' left."

"Who?" said Ron curiously.

"Madame Maxime, o' course!" said Hagrid.

"You two made up, have you?" said Ron.

"Dunno what yeh're talkin' about," said Hagrid airily, fetching more cups from the dresser. When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed Harry and me closely through his beetle-black eyes. "You two all righ'?" he said gruffly.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"No," I said honestly, "but we will be."

Hagrid nodded at me. "Tha's righ'. Knew he was goin' ter come back," said Hagrid, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. I wondered if Hagrid was more perceptive than any of us knew.

"Known it fer years. Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledores plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."

"No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," he said. "What's comin' will come, an we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you two did, Harry, Gia." Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry. "Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."

Harry smiled back at him. It was the first time he'd smiled in days. "What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" he asked. "He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him—that night."

"Got a little job fer me over the summer," said Hagrid. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Olympe—Madame Maxime ter you—might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."

"Is it to do with Voldemort?"

Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name.

"It's the giants, isn't it?" I said calmly. They all stared at me, but Hagrid looked nervous. "Dumbledore's asked you to go talk to them, perhaps persuade them not to fight for Voldemort."

"Migh' be," he said evasively. "Now... Who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin'—jokin'!" he added hastily, seeing the looks on our faces.


	38. To The Cedric Diggorys

_**A/N: Well, this is it, the final chapter of Grey Descent. *sigh* But don't feel sad, because I'll post the first chapter of the sequel later on today!**_

_**A/N2: I had a friend who was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'm sure most of us do, and so this chapter is wholeheartedly dedicated to all the Cedric Diggorys of the world, who lost their lives because of a small action that had high consequences.**_

– _**To The Cedric Diggorys**_

_Previous Chapter:_

_"Got a little job fer me over the summer," said Hagrid. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Olympe—Madame Maxime ter you—might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."_

_"Is it to do with Voldemort?" Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name. _

"_It's the giants, isn't it?" I said calmly. They all stared at me, but Hagrid looked nervous. "Dumbledore's asked you to go talk to them, perhaps persuade them not to fight for Voldemort."_

_"Migh' be," he said evasively. "Now... Who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin'—jokin'!" he added hastily, seeing the looks on our faces._

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

On the night before we were to return to our own homes, we all packed our things. For some reason, all five of us left our doors open as we packed our trunks, perhaps as assurance that one of us wouldn't disappear. Of course, I could've used a spell and had all of our things ready to go within seconds, but there was something comforting about doing it the muggle way. It took forever to pack up Harry and my shared closet, but after trying to sort through whose clothes was whose, we simply decided to pack all of it, whether my things ended up in Harry's trunk and vice versa. "We're going to the same place anyway." I pointed out.

I wasn't particularly looking forward to the Leaving Feast, even though it would be my first one at Hogwarts, and I knew that Harry felt the same. We had taken to eating together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I, and sometimes Luna when she wasn't with Terry, in our common room, to avoid the stares and whispers, and also for some peace and quiet. I made sure to remind all of them to leave out an outfit to wear to travel home in tomorrow before we snapped shut our trunks and prepared to go down to the Great Hall.

Ever since that horrible day, Harry and I had taken to wearing black. When Hermione had asked about it, I softly replied, "It's Pureblood tradition to wear black for at least a week or two after the death of a family member, as a sign of respect to the dead and a sign of mourning. Cedric wasn't a blood relative, but my Lycan side considered him pack, and that's considered closer than a blood relation to my people."

"Why?" she'd asked.

"You know how you can't choose your blood family, and there are relatives you'd rather not be related to?" I asked, and Hermione nodded. "Well, my Lycan side chose Cedric as family, as my brother, and that's considered a very special occurrence, especially since we are somewhat picky people. For example, I consider you and Ron as pack, and of course Harry. If we were amongst other Lycans, and there are lots more in the world, they would view you as my family, blood relation or not."

Since I very rarely explained the inner-workings behind my heritage, Hermione appreciated this small, but extremely important, bit of background information. After that, she and Ron had taken to wearing black as well, and when I asked, they insisted that they didn't mind. As we four stepped into the Great Hall that night, all eyes turned to us. Harry and I gripped hands tightly, and I saw that Ron and Hermione were doing the same. I knew that the purebloods in the Hall would recognize what our wearing black meant, and judging from the touched nods and sad smiles sent to us from the Hufflepuff Table, they understood and appreciated it. As a whole, even the non-pureblood Hufflepuffs wore black that night.

Ignoring the stares, we saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. According to the trio, the Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. I knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric. The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. I couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk.

Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty.

As we sat down at the solemn Gryffindor Table, I patted Neville's shoulder. I had made sure to tell him the fate of one of the men responsible for his parents' condition. He had disappeared into his dorm for a few hours, and when he'd returned, he'd given me a small smile and thanks.

"Where's Karkaroff now? I wonder if Voldemort's caught up with him…"Harry said softly.

"I'm sure He has," I whispered to Harry, "and if He hasn't, then it's only a matter of time before He catches Karkaroff." Harry stared at me.

"Shh," Hermione whispered.

Harry and I shot each other looks, before looking back up at the Head Table. We'd talk about it later. Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. As I studied him, I saw that he was still a bit paler than usual, but still as stoic and emotionless as ever. He didn't look injured, and so I hoped that Voldemort accepted him back without any trouble. Snape, as if feeling my stare, looked in our direction. His eyes went to Harry, and then lingered on me. I nodded respectfully, and he nodded back shortly.

My attention was recaptured by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet. "The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at us all, "of another year."

He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall. "There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

We did it, all of us; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

I caught a glimpse of Ceria through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face, and I felt a quick stab of pain. I had, on more than one occasion, invited her up to East Tower. We'd sit in my room, just the two of us. Some days we would talk, or cry, and some days we would simply sit in silence, staring off into space. But every time, we remembered the wonderful Cedric that had been a shining light in our lives. She'd slowly begun to heal, especially after I began to tell her stories of what Cedric had been like as a kid, but this heavy reminder must be hard on her. I looked at Harry, who looked down at the table as we all sat down again.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort." A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence. "The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so—either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now... Or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table, I saw Bulstrode muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. My inner wolf gave a low growl, and I forced myself to look back at Dumbledore.

"There are two people who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter and Gia Grey." A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in our direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"Through sheer love and determination, and perhaps a bit of skillful magic, Gia Grey found a way to Harry Potter. She went to him, putting her own life in mortal peril, in to order to help him escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "Harry Potter and Gia Grey risked their own lives to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. They showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor them both."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and I, and raised his goblet once more. Every person in the Great Hall did the same, they murmured our names as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to us. Through a gap in the standing figures, I saw that only Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle remained seated, their Goblets untouched. Malfoy and the other fourth year Slytherins, however, stood and drank to us; if not for Harry, then for me, for all that had changed this year. Following Malfoy's lead, the rest of Slytherin House had stood as well.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened—of Lord Voldemorts return—such ties are more important than ever before." Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbaton students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Viktor, I saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again—in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemorts gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

"It is my belief and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken—that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst." He paused, and silently wiped a single tear from his eyes.

That one action seemed to hit home with most people in the Hall, people who lived in the wizarding world, people whose families had been destroyed by Voldemort. Those people knew how strong and resilient Dumbledore was, and to see him so affected by the death of one student seemed to make this all too real for them, for all of us. I could see that most of the students from the muggle world and from the first and second years didn't truly understand the situation, and I hoped they never would have to. I hoped they would never have to face something like this, that they would never be forced to take fight a war, or take a life… or bury their friends and family. I hoped with all my heart, but as hopeful as I was, I knew that dark times were indeed ahead.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

(Page Break)

The next day was a beautiful summer's day. Harry and I woke to the sun shining on our bare skin, in the arms of the person we loved. The picture should've been perfect, if not for the metaphorical grey cloud headed our way. Since my period of mourning was over, I decided that I would get truly dressed that day. Of course, I would always feel that pain from the loss of my brother, but he was still in my heart. Cedric had been one of the happiest people I knew, and I knew that he wouldn't want anyone, let alone his little sister, carrying the weight of guilt and sadness with them.

Getting up, I awoke Harry with loving kisses, and he thoroughly returned the favor as we showered. Leaving the bathroom in our towels, I saw Harry staring at me. "What?" I asked.

"Your skin…" he muttered.

"My skin? Am I breaking out or something?" I asked, almost panicking.

"You know you never break out. No, it's all tan now." He said, almost jealously as he eyed his own pale skin. I snorted.

"Whether we actually go out in the sun or not, Lycans get tan when the weather gets hot, and we get pale when the weather is cold. Something about blending in," I explained, shrugging. "Never understood that part…"

We set about dressing in the clothes we'd left out. Seeing as it would incredibly hot and sunny outside, I pulled on a loose, deep purple half-top and some black shorts along with deep purple sandals. I let my hair cascade down my back in its usual spiraling ringlets, covering my tattoo, and just getting all dressed up(something I hadn't done in weeks) made me feel much more like myself. Making sure I had on the ring Harry had given me, even though I never took it off, I spun for him and enjoyed his expression. His eyes raked up my smooth tan legs, to my exposed stomach, to my eyes, and everything in between.

"See something you like, Potter?" I asked teasingly. The responding kiss was enough to convince me that the answer was a firm yes. When we broke apart, I breathlessly eyed Harry.

He wore black cargo shorts and a tight deep purple v-neck that showed off his nicely developed muscles, though he was still lean, and black trainers. We both grinned at each other and shrunk our trunks, slipping them into our pockets. As we looked around our now empty room, I felt somewhat sad.

"I'll miss this room." I said.

Harry came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his chin resting on my right shoulder. "Don't worry love, we'll be back up here in a few months. We've still got three more years with this place." He reminded me. I kissed his cheek and nodded. We looked around one more time, and my eyes fell on Hedwig.

"Did you ever owl the Dursleys to tell them you weren't coming back?" I asked.

"I didn't bother." He said simply. I grinned evilly.

"How mad do you think they'll be when they show up to get you, and you're not there?" I asked. Harry and I shared a look before bursting into laughter.

The sound almost startled me. It was the first time either of us had laughed or shown outright humor since the night of the Third Task. But it was a cleansing sound and feeling, and we relished in it.

After summoning anything we'd missed packing, we finally left our room to find Ron and Hermione waiting for us. It seemed that Hermione had taken a leaf from my book, as she wore light jean shorts, a black tank top, and matching trainers. Ron's outfit was similar to Harry's but he matched Hermione. "Where's Luna?" I asked.

"She went ahead to find Terry." Hermione smiled.

"Ready to make one final impression on Hogwarts this year?" I asked. All three of them nodded, and we left East Tower as fourth years for the last time.

Harry and I held hands as we walked through the corridors, and I grinned noticing that Ron and Hermione casually did the same. So much had changed this year, and though the two still bickered, it was obvious that they were in a much better place than before. Harry and I walked a few feet behind them, calling goodbyes to various portraits or suits of armor. We saw Ron dramatically sling his arm around Hermione's shoulder and say something funny, as Hermione started laughing.

"They're cute together, and they balance each other nicely, don't you think?" I said, smiling softly.

"Yeah," Harry said, grinning, "I know exactly what you mean."

As we entered the full entrance hall that contained the rest of the school, waiting for the carriages that would take us down to Hogsmeade Station, we stopped at the top of the stone steps. All eyes turned to us, and we got the usual looks, but that was to be expected. "Oi," I called, "listen up!"

Immediately, the entire hall fell silent. "Those of you who got an invitation to my birthday bash know that it wasn't cancelled, simply postponed. I hope you all still have the invitations because you'll need to check them for the new date of my party, which will happen sometime over the summer. If you lost yours, sorry but no one is getting a new one." I finished with a grin as the fourth years and up burst into cheers and excited chatter. What with the recent events, we all needed something to look forward to.

"Gia!" we all turned as Fleur hurried up the stone steps. I saw Hermione look at Ron who was determinedly playing with her wavy brown hair. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. I pulled Fleur into a tight hug.

"Fleur, how are you?" I asked genuinely.

"Bonne, et vous?" she asked. _(Good, and you?)_

"I'm… alright. We'll all be alright." I said. Fleur nodded.

"We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere to improve my English."

"It sounds like you're already improving." I complimented. She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Merci! J'insiste pour que vous et vos amis viennent visiter pour une semaine en France avec ma famille et moi. Ils aimeraient rencontrer des sauveurs de Gabrielle." She said quickly. I knew it was easier for her to speak in her native language. _(Thank you! I insist that you and your friends come visit me and my family in France for a week. They would love to meet Gabrielle's saviors.)_

"We would love to Fleur, I shall owl you?" she nodded and we watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight. When she was gone, Ron blew out a deep breath and blushed as Hermione kissed his cheek.

"She said she insists that we come visit her in France for a week. She said her family would love to meet Gabrielle's saviors." I translated.

"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," Ron said, still smiling down at Hermione. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork." Viktor had come to say good-bye to me. He gave me a quick hug before turning to Harry. "I am sorry for any misunderstanding ve have had this year." The two boys shook hands and I couldn't help but smile.

"My offer is valid for all four of you to visit my home in Bulgaria." He said, smiling slightly. "I liked Diggory. He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang—with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.

"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" I asked. Viktor shrugged.

He'd already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Hermione, Harry, and I laughed softly. "You had all year to ask him, and you wait until now?" I said, giggling. But Viktor, looking surprised yet gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.

We got a carriage, and then a compartment on the train to ourselves. I enjoyed my first experience on the Hogwarts Express as I had portkeyed to the gates of Hogwarts the previous September. Pigwidgeon was hidden under Ron's robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I talked more fully and freely than we had all week as the train sped us southward. I was explaining to them the letters I had already sent out and received, and the _why_ behind them when the lunch trolley arrived.

When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. "Anything good?" I asked warily.

"There's nothing in there." She said calmly. "You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying Harry won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me. Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."

"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."

"What are you talking about?" said Ron, twisting her hair around his fingers.

"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to becoming onto the grounds, " said Hermione in a rush. I had the impression that Hermione had been dying to tell us this for days, but that she had restrained herself in light of everything else that had happened.

"She's the beetle that's been following us around, right?" I asked. Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes lightly.

"Must you figure out everything?" she asked rhetorically. I grinned and shrugged.

"What are you two going on about?" Harry asked.

"How did you find out?" said Ron, staring at us.

"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry," she said.

"Did I?" said Harry, perplexed. "How?"

"Bugging," said Hermione happily.

"But you said they didn't work—"

"Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see ... Rita Skeeter"—Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph—"is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn—" Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out other bag. "into a beetle."

"You're kidding," said Ron. "You haven't... She's not..."

"Oh yes she is, " said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them. Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.

"That's never—you're kidding—" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes.

"No, I'm not," said Hermione, beaming. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears." Peering closely at it, I saw that she was right.

"So let me get this straight," I said, smiling evilly as the beetle hissed angrily at me, "you captured Skeeter…and put her in a jar." Hermione laughed.

"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people." Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.

The door of the compartment slid open. It was Malfoy, Pansy, Daphne, Tracy, Zabini, and Nott.

"What's up, Malfoy?" I asked calmly. They all looked nervous and slightly uncomfortable.

"We…I…err—" Malfoy stuttered. I was surprised. I very rarely saw Malfoy this scattered, if ever. He took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his silvery-blonde hair, which I noticed lacked its usual hair gel. Pansy rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

"What Draco was _trying_ to say is that…we," she gestured to all of them, "we're all sorry for… for the way we've treated you all these past four years. Well, not so much this year, err, for the most part… but…yeah…" she finished lamely.

Looking at the trio, I could see that they were frozen with pure shock. "What brought this on, Pansy?" I asked.

"Well, it's just… we've all been taught since we were born that anyone without pure blood was beneath us. We were taught that they were less beautiful, less smart, less powerful…" Pansy began. "It takes a lot of time and energy to be mean and stuck-up all the time, and since we were actually decent this year, at least part of it, it gave us time to think about…everything. I'm not saying we're going to suddenly be best friends forever or start worshipping Dumbledore," at this, the girl shuddered, "but we've realized that perhaps some of the ideals we've grown up on aren't completely…true."

"Everyone immediately expects us to be dark and evil when we're sorted into Slytherin," Daphne said softly, "and we act that way, reinforcing the image, which is, in fact, counter-productive. Anyway, I think all we needed was someone to give us a chance to show that we could be different than how everyone expects us to be. So…thank you Gia, all of you, for giving us that chance."

I could see that it took perhaps every ounce of her strength to say that, but I could sense her honesty. "That's good for you lot. I hope that we can all finish out our last few Hogwarts years without too much rivalry." I said. Malfoy nodded. After bringing the trio out of their shock, there was a round of handshakes.

"Malfoy, your father won't be pleased when he finds out about this." Bulstrode said unpleasantly. The six Slytherins parted to see Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle standing in the corridor. Malfoy sneered.

"I suggest you shove it, Bulstrode, and stay in your place." He said scathingly. Bulstrode reddened.

"I am a pureblood too!" she growled. I stood up.

"But you are outranked by every pureblood family in this compartment, even Harry, who is a Half-Blood." I stated, thoroughly enjoying the brief spasm of uncertainty that crossed her face before disappearing in a sneer.

"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Bulstrode softly, looking around at all of us. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

"Get out!" I hissed venomously. Though Bulstrode took a step back, she seemed determined to get herself murdered on that train.

"You've picked the losing side, Grey! You're a filthy blood traitor! Too late now, Grey, after you've been hanging out with mudbloods and blood traitor. They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well—second—Diggory was the f-"

It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, I blinked and looked down at the floor. Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. We were all on our feet, all of us, even the other Slytherins, having used a different hex. But I was no longer satisfied with these childish games, and she'd finally gone too far. "_Enervate_!" I snapped, waking Bulstrode.

As she blinked, I snarled and picked her up by the scruff of her blouse and slammed her into the wall, her feet dangling a foot above the floor. This was an amazing feat of strength, especially as Bulstrode was at least somewhere around 250llbs. She stared fearfully at me as my blazing amber eyes glared frozen death at her. "Bulstrode, I'm only going to say this one time, so listen closely." I growled, my voice dripping icy venom.

"If you _ever_ so much as utter Cedric's name in my presence, I—Will—Kill—You. Do you understand?" Too frozen with terror, Bulstrode couldn't form words. I growled and slammed her back against the wall. "Do you understand!?" I snapped loudly. She nodded rapidly and I, disgusted, tossed her onto the floor, on top of Crabbe and Goyle. "_Stupefy!_" I spat. The girl slumped in consciousness.

My inner wolf was howling for blood, and I almost snarled at Harry as he grabbed my hand. He stared calmly into my truly wolfish face, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the window. My wolf ears were beginning to peak out from my red hair, my four canine teeth were longer than ever, and all of my fingernails had turned into pure black claws. I had never lost my temper so much that I'd almost accidentally transformed. Scared for what that might mean, I forced myself to take deep breaths. As I calmed, my features returned to normal, my ears disappeared, my teeth returned to being only slightly sharp, and my fingernails returned to their usual manicured state.

There was a tense moment of silence that was broken by the appearance of our unknown allies in hexing the three Slytherins.

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Crabbe as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furunculous Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."

Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle—each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit—out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and eyed the remaining six Slytherins.

"Why'd you hex them?" I asked.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "They've been a pain in the arse all year, and they were getting a bit too full of themselves." They seemed to be uncomfortable around the two known pranksters and began to leave. As they filed out of the compartment, I saw them seemingly consoling a rather pale Malfoy.

"It'll be fine, Draco. He won't—"

"You know he will!" Malfoy hissed. "You know how father is! He…he'll…" As the door rolled shut, I leapt up and left the compartment, following after them down the corridor.

"Malfoy, wait!" I called. He seemed to gather himself as I approached them. I'd heard a lot of things about Malfoy Sr., both before and after starting Hogwarts.

"Yes, Grey?" he said smoothly, though his skin was paler than ever.

"I couldn't help but overhear you," I said slowly, "and I think I might know what you were talking about." Patting my pockets, I pulled out a candy wrapper and transfigured it into a simple silver chain. "_Portus._" I whispered. As an afterthought, I added the same spells that were on my birthday party invitations before handing it to Malfoy.

"Malfoy, if you ever need…help, or assistance, a place to stay…even just for one night…use this. Don't try to hoodwink it, because it has the same spells as my birthday invites. It'd be impossible. But…" I sighed and brushed my hair over my shoulder, "in case of an _emergency_, use this and it'll automatically take you to the…Medical Wing in the summer property that I'm staying at for now. When you get there, you won't be able to leave that wing until I come get you, just as a precaution."

Malfoy remained stoic as he slipped the chain over his neck, but I could hear the emotion in his voice as he shook my hand and spoke. "Thank you," he said softly. He and the others began to walk back to their compartment, but Pansy lingered for a second. She squeezed my hand quickly.

"Thank you Grey," she whispered earnestly. "That might…that portkey might just save his life."

I nodded seriously. "Is he…does his father…" I tried to convey the question with my eyes. Pansy bit her lip.

"That's really not my place to say, Grey. But all I'll say is…" she half turned to walk away, "I would expect him to be at your place within the next few days."

I watched silently as Pansy hurried to catch up with her friends. I quickly returned to my compartment to find the trio and the twins playing Exploding Snap. I retook my seat beside Harry and begged off joining. As I sat back, I pondered what had just happened. I knew that corporeal punishment was still very much legal in the wizarding world, but we had our own version of the Child Services Department within the Ministry, and they took abuse very seriously, pureblood family or not. If that was the case, and I suspected it was, then this summer was going to get even more interesting.

"What's wrong love?" Harry murmured as he avoided being burned. I shook my head. Until I had undeniable proof, such as Malfoy turning up in my Medical Wing, then I wouldn't tell anyone, not even Harry. They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask the twins what we'd all been dying to know.

"You going to tell us, then?" he said to George. "Who you were blackmailing?"

"Oh," said George darkly. "That."

"It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."

"We've given up," said George, shrugging.

But we kept on asking, and finally, Fred said, "All right, all right, if you really want to know... It was Ludo Bagman."

"Bagman?" said Harry sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in—"

"Nah," said George gloomily. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."

"Well, what, then?" said Ron.

Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"

I stared at them, amazed. "That was you two?" They nodded slowly. I laughed. "That bet was being talked about by most of the crowd. They seemed to think whoever made the bet was absolutely mad!"

This seemed to cheer the twins up indefinitely. "Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."

"So?"

"So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"

"But—it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione.

George laughed very bitterly. "Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But he ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."

"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."

"So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.

"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.

"Right in one," said Fred.

"But that was all your savings!" said Ron.

"Tell me about it," said George. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"

"How?" said Harry.

"He put a bet on you, mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."

"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" said Harry. "Well—I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"

"Nope," said George, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task."

"Surely the money we gave you on Christmas outweighed what you lost to Bagman?" I asked.

"Of course," Fred said, "but we were saving that money for something else. Opened an account at Gringotts and everything." In order to cheer the twins up, I taught them several muggle cards games and we played until, all too soon, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

The confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. Harry and I, however, stayed put. "Fred—George-wait a moment."

The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings. "Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands.

"What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.

"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."

"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry.

"No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

"He is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.

"Listen," said Harry seriously. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

"Harry," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."

"Yeah," said Harry, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."

The twins stared at him.

Harry smirked. "If your Mum asks where you got it, tell her…that it's from Gia. We all know how she likes to give expensive gifts, and your birthday was back in March… Although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it..."

I glared at him, and he simply kissed my cheek.

"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.

"Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Gia taught me herself." At the mention of me, the twins paled, thanked him once more, and fled the compartment.

As we stepped onto the platform, we, of course, noticed the attention we received for various reasons. But we'd come to an unspoken agreement that we wouldn't deal with the stares and whispers now, it was summer vacation, and there was fun to be had. Mrs. Weasley immediately swept us both up in loving hugs.

"It'll be fine, Mrs. Weasley," I said, patting the woman's back as she said how much she'll miss us. "I'll have your whole family over for dinner and such frequently."

"That's incredibly kind, dear." Mrs. Weasley beamed. "Harry, I think you'll be able to come visit later in the summer."

"I'm not going to the Dursleys, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said easily.

"Oh, did Albus change his mind, then?" she asked happily.

"Err, not exactly…" Harry muttered.

"Look Mrs. Weasley," I said calmly, "Harry is coming to live with me from now on. Would you really want him with those muggles? You know how they treat him, I'm sure. Would you really want that over him having fun and loving care with me?"

Mrs. Weasley looked torn between what Dumbledore wanted and what she knew was the right thing for Harry. She gazed at me, and I saw something pass through her eyes. I had a feeling she was remembering the Christmas we all spent together. "Well, I suppose I lost you in the crowd, and figured you'd found your way to your relatives." She said suddenly, that familiar mischievous twinkle in her eyes. The same twinkle that the twins gained when they were about to pull a grand prank. I loved Mrs. Weasley all the more at that moment.

Harry kissed Mrs. Weasley's forehead and pulled the much shorter woman in a hug, and I did the same. We both thanked her. We went over to where the twins, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were standing together, the latter two holding hands. "Tell your Mum that you all can come over for dinner tomorrow night." I told Ginny as I hugged her.

I gave Hermione two portkeys in the form of two small stuffed bears, one red and one green. "The red one is for emergencies only. The green one is just to visit. I want your family over for dinner tomorrow night as well. Bring bathing suits, all of you." I said.

We finished our good-byes and watched the Weasleys floo back to the Burrow. Suddenly, I grinned evilly. "Who wants to see how angry the Dursleys are?" I asked.

I placed Disillusionment charms on Harry and I, and we walked Hermione through the barrier back into the Muggle World. I'd removed the charm briefly to say good-bye to Dan and Jane, and Hermione before replacing it. Harry showed me where the Dursleys usually waited, and I got my first glimpse of the people who had caused my Harry so much pain and misery. "A whale, a giraffe, and a hippo…" I muttered mock-sadly.

I resisted the urge to do anything to them whilst invisible, but Harry and I silently laughed ourselves blue and purple as we watched the Dursleys get angrier and angrier. Finally, they gave up and left. Pulling ourselves off of the ground, we hurried back onto the magical platform and I held out my left hand, which held my family's signet ring.

"Isn't that where your wedding ring is supposed to go?" Harry asked idly.

"When I get married, it'll switch to my right hand. I would have it there now, but that's where your ring is." I said smiling. Harry gently tilted my chin up until I was staring into his emerald green eyes. He leaned down and captured my lips in a searing kiss that left me no doubt as to his intentions later on. I had no objections.

"Maybe one day they'll trade places," Harry murmured, emotion blazing in his eyes. I smiled largely as I prepared to activate the ring-portkey.

"Yeah, maybe."


End file.
